Seasonal response greenhouse gas accounting model supporting regionalized carbon reduction in wastewater treatment plants

Greenhouse gas mitigation in wastewater treatment plants is imperative under global climate change. However, existing greenhouse gas estimation models lack seasonal adaptability and high-resolution data integration, obscuring spatiotemporal emission heterogeneity and hindering climate-specific strategies. To address these limitations, a seasonal-responsive greenhouse gas accounting framework was developed, incorporating temperature-sensitive emission factors and multi-temporal datasets to holistically quantify process-wide emissions. To validate the model's seasonal responsiveness, greenhouse gas emission accounting was conducted specifically for wastewater treatment plants in cold regions. The findings revealed marked seasonal disparities in emissions, with winter greenhouse gas intensity surging by 26.24 %. Compared to traditional carbon accounting models, the proposed model applied to high-temporal-resolution datasets exhibits significantly enhanced sensitivity to seasonal fluctuations. Leveraging the regional emission patterns derived from the seasonal-responsive model, a region-tailored near-zero-carbon framework was developed to achieve substantial carbon offset potential without compromising treatment efficacy. By bridging seasonal emission dynamics with greenhouse gas reduction imperatives, this work provides scalable strategies for transforming wastewater treatment plants into energy-efficient systems, advancing global climate governance objectives.