CEG Lunch 9: China's Inter-provincial and Foreign Virtual Water Trade

Carole Dalin led a discussion on China’s virtual water trade. Attendees in the photo: Kang Sun, Xinwo Huang, Carole Dalin, Hang Deng, Bo Guo, Hao Chen and Ruoming Peng.

Photo by Hao Chen

03/25/2014

[Mar 25, 2014, Princeton]

Carole Dalin, a fifth-year PhD student from Civil and Environmental Engineering, led a lunch discussion on China’s virtual water trade on Tuesday. It was the first lunch seminar in 2014.

Carole’s talk was focused on the role of international and inter-provincial food trade in China’s national agricultural water-use and food supply. The water used throughout the production process of a good is referred to as “virtual water”. She combined a hydrological model with a trade model to quantify the volumes of irrigation and rainfall water transferred between provinces and other countries through agricultural trade. The findings are essential to inform sound policies aiming at improving agricultural sustainability in China.

Evolution of important features of VWT. (A) China’s VWI associated with soy over time broken down into the corresponding exporting countries. (B) Global water savings over time. The shaded area shows the total global water savings from crops and livestock (beef, poultry, and pork) trade. Individual linesshow the global water savings associated with trade of that particular crop. Note that the dramatic increase in global water savings from soy trade corresponds to the increase in China’s imports from more efficient countries of production (the United States, Argentina, and Brazil).



Carole Dalin led a discussion on China’s virtual water trade. Attendees: Kang Sun, Xinwo Huang, Carole Dalin, Hang Deng, Bo Guo, Hao Chen and Ruoming Peng. 

 

 

Copyright 2012 by Princeton University China Energy Group. All rights reserved.