Water, Energy and Climate
We need to learn to consider critical issues such as water, energy, climate change, food, land, development and ecosystem services together.
Boosting water and energy use efficiency through investment in relevant technologies and infrastructure are critical pathways to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
This article outlines the facts on the interconnections between water, energy and climate change.
Content Table
Water for Energy, Energy for Water
How Much is 1,000 GJ?
In 2005, 1,000 GJ represented the annual average energy consumption of
• 5 individuals in a developed country;
• 24 individuals in a developing country
Energy in Water
• Pumping freshwater from groundwater aquifers can have a high energy footprint;
• Estimates of energy requirements for pumping freshwater range from 540 KWh per million gallons from a depth of 35 meters (equivalent to0.51 GJ per 1,000 m3 of pumped water), to 2,000KWh per million gallons from 120 meters (equivalent to about 2 GJ per 1,000 m3 of pumped water)
• These energy needs will increase in the areas where groundwater levels are decreasing.
Water in Different Energy Types
Renewable Energy
Hydropower
• Hydropower produced 89% of the world’s renewable electricity in 2006, and 16.6% of total electricity generation worldwide. Two-thirds ofworldwide economic potential remains unexploited – this resource is concentrated in the developing world
• 25% of dams worldwide are used for hydro power and only 10% have hydropower as their main use. Most of them are used for flood control or irrigation, or for multiple purposes
• Hydropower uses and releases water instantaneously or with a delay but do not consume water. Their main loss stems from evaporation when air temperatures are high;
• Energy output from hydropower is dependent on sustainable upstream water use as well as hydrological patterns, and is therefore susceptible to climate change impacts;
• Hydropower reservoirs store both water and energy and are becoming increasingly important for the management of climate change.
Solar, wind and ocean energy
• Solar thermal power plant water consumption is about 1 m3 of water per 103 kWh (electric) or 277m3 of water per 1,000 G.J.
• Wind energy and photovoltaic cells that produce electricity directly from sunlight are considered to have negligible water use;
• Wave energy is still a largely untapped source of renewable energy, which, like hydro-power, uses water but does not consume it.
Crude Oil
• As easy oil is used up, pumping oil from reservoirs is now associated with more water production per amount of oil produced than ever before (due to aging reservoirs and increased oil recovery operations). The volume of water produced worldwide from the oil and gas industry is still increasing at a rate of about 10%per year. Water to oil ratios ranged from <1 to up to 40 depending on maturity of the field with the lowest ratios generally observed in the Middle East.
• Between 2 and 8 m3 of water per 1,000 G.J. have historically been required to extract oil, including water for drilling, flooding and treating. However, when thermal steam injection or enhanced oil recovery is included in the process, this number can increase, on average, to 1,058 m3 per 1,000 G.J.
Oil Refining and Gas Processing
• Consumptive water use for processing and cooling in traditional refining facilities in industrialized countries ranges from 25 to 65 m3 per 1,000 G.J. Please note this figure is only illustrative, as it does not specify if it refers to wet or dry cooling.
• For about 800 million gallons of petroleum products refined daily in the US, 1 to 2 billion gallons of water are consumed per day;
Biomass for Conversion to Bio-fuels
• An illustrative range of average water footprints for biomass production is 24 m3/GJ (24,000 m3 per 1,000 GJ) in the Netherlands to 143 m3/GJ (143,000 m3 per 1,000 GJ) in Zimbabwe
• Large differences in crop water requirements exist among countries due to different climates. Also, the amount of water used does not reflect water sources and whether the crop is rain-fed or irrigated;
• Water is not only required for biomass production, but also for its conversion to biofuels.
Coal
• More electricity is generated from coal than from any other fuel – 39% of world generation in 2002
• Open pit coal mining requires 2 m3 of water per 1,000 GJ of energy in the coal, while underground mining operations require 3-20 m3 of water per 1,000 GJ
Nuclear
Power generation (Figures based on average values from EDF from nuclear power plants along rivers in France.)
There are two types of cooling systems for nuclear power plants:
- • open-loop water cooling, where water is withdrawn from a river, lake or the sea, and then returned to it after cooling. The average amount of water consumed is approximately zero and the water required and then returned is approx. 160 m3/MWh (equivalent to 44,444 m3 per 1000 GJ).
- • closed- loop water cooling, where water flows into a closed circuit and part of it is evaporated through a cooling tower into the atmosphere. The average amount of water consumed (through evaporation) is approx. 2 m3/MWh (555 m3 per 1000 GJ) and the water required and then returned is approx. 6 m3/MWh (equivalent to 1, 666 m3 per 1000 GJ).
Resources
The issues in this article are addressed in the report, Water, Energy and Climate Change: A contribution from the business community. Produced by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the report says water, energy and climate change are inextricably linked.
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The WBCSD's Water Project brings together more than 70 companies from mining and metals, oil and gas, consumer products, food and beverages, infrastructure services, equipment and other sectors. The broad representation reflects that water is everybody’s business and all businesses will face water challenges in the years ahead.
The paper lists five important policy recommendations from business to climate negotiators and policy-makers. These are:
- Provide reliable climate change risk data, models and analysis tools.
- Integrate water and energy efficiency in measurement tools and policy.
- Ensure institutional capacities can deliver common management practices, education and awareness raising
- Integrate and value ecosystem services (the benefits that nature provides to society, such as water and forest products) into trans-boundary decision-making.
- Encourage best practice through innovation, appropriate solutions and community engagement.
References
International Energy Agency (2006), World Energy Outlook 2006.
World Water Assessment Programme (2006), cited in United Nations Environment Programme (2007), Global Environment Outlook 4 (GEO4): Environment for development.
UNESCO International Symposium (2008), “Resolving the Water-Energy Nexus”, Draft Summary and Recommendations, 26 November 2008.
IUCN, Draft “Energy, Ecosystems and Livelihoods: Understanding linkages in the face of climate change impacts”, Dec 2008. org.xwiki.gwt.dom.client.Element#placeholder'>www.iucn.org/about/work/initiatives/energy_welcome/index.cfm?uNewsID=1646
Braat, L., P. ten Brink, et al, “The Cost of Policy Inaction – the case of not meeting the 2010 biodiversity target”, Executive summary, May 2008.
US Department of Energy, Energy demands on water resources, Report to congress on the interdependency of energy and water, December 2006.
Scientific American, Earth3.0, Special Issue, “Energy vs. Water. Why both crises must be solved together”, October 2008, with amended data from GHD.
World Resources Institute. EarthTrends: Environmental Information. International Energy Agency (IEA) Statistics Division. 2007. Energy Balances of OECD Countries (2008 edition) and Energy Balances of Non-OECD Countries (2007 edition). Paris: IEA.
Cohen et al. (2004), cited in US Department of Energy, “Energy demands on water resources”, Report to congress on the interdependency of energy and water, December 2006.
IPCC Working Group III, “The Possible Role and Contribution of Hydropower to the Mitigation of Climate Change” Proceedings, January 2008.
WBCSD, Powering a Sustainable Future: An agenda for concerted action, Facts & Trends, 2006.
Gleick, Peter H., Water and Energy, Annual Review of Energy and the Environment 19 :267-99, 1994.
Khatib, Zara, “Produced Water Management: Is it a Future Legacy or a Business Opportunity for Field Development”, International Petroleum Technology Conference, 2007.
Gerbens-Leenes, P.W., A.Y. Hoekstra, Th.H. Van der Meer, “Water Footprint of Bio-energy and other primary energy carriers”, UNESCO-IHE Research Report Series No. 29, March 2008.
Energy Information Administration, 2006.
Gerbens-Leenes, P.W., A. Y. Hoekstra, Th. H. Van der Meer, “The Water Footprint of Bio-energy: global water use for bio-ethanol, bio-diesel, heat and electricity”, UNESCO-IHE Research Report Series No. 34, August 2008.
Links
org.xwiki.gwt.dom.client.Element#placeholder'>WBCSD Report: org.xwiki.gwt.dom.client.Element#placeholder'>Powering a Sustainable Future: An agenda for concerted action. Facts & Trendsorg.xwiki.gwt.dom.client.Element#placeholder'>, 2006
org.xwiki.gwt.dom.client.Element#placeholder'>WBCSD Power to Change
org.xwiki.gwt.dom.client.Element#placeholder'>WBCSD Website
org.xwiki.gwt.dom.client.Element#placeholder'>WBCSD on Water
Related Articles and Publications
Water, Energy and Climate Change: Key Policy Directions
Managing Climate Risk in Water Supply Systems
Publication Date: Jan 2013 - ISBN - 9781780400587
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