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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Do Thermal Power Plants Have an Adverse
Impact on Wheat Sown Area? Empirical
Evidence from North China
1
College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China
2
China Academy for Rural Development and School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University,
866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
Submission date: 2024-01-23
Final revision date: 2024-03-26
Acceptance date: 2024-04-27
Online publication date: 2024-09-02
Publication date: 2025-01-28
Corresponding author
Sihan Lyu
College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China
College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(3):2751-2768
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The adverse effects of energy industry development on agriculture have not received adequate
attention. The availability of groundwater plays a crucial role in agricultural production and energy
generation, and its scarcity poses a substantial risk to the sustainability of food and energy supplies
in the long run. This study utilizes a panel dataset from county-level agricultural production in
North China from 2005 to 2016 to evaluate the impact of thermal power plants on wheat sown areas.
The results reveal that the presence of an additional thermal power plant is associated with a 2.8%
decline in wheat sown area. Furthermore, regions characterized by scarce surface water, high irrigation
rates, or a high density of large-scale thermal power plants encounter more pronounced adverse
consequences. Additionally, the mechanism test demonstrates that thermal power plants significantly
reduce groundwater percentiles during the wheat growing season, resulting in a subsequent reduction
in wheat sown area. This study not only highlights the critical competition for water resources but
also provides empirical evidence on the negative externalities of the energy sector on agricultural
sustainability. Our findings underscore the urgent need for integrated resource management strategies
to mitigate the impacts of industrial water use on agriculture, ensuring the long-term viability of food
and energy supplies in water-scarce regions.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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