The water consumption of energy production: an international comparison

Producing energy resources requires significant quantities of fresh water. As an energy sector changes or expands, the mix of technologies deployed to produce fuels and electricity determines the associated burden on regional water resources. Many reports have identified the water consumption of var...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental research letters 2014-10, Vol.9 (10), p.105002
Main Authors: Spang, E S, Moomaw, W R, Gallagher, K S, Kirshen, P H, Marks, D H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Energy consumption
Energy industry
energy portfolio
Energy resources
Energy sources
Fresh water
Geographical distribution
Visibility
Water consumption
water footprint
Water resources
Water use
water-energy nexus
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Summary:Producing energy resources requires significant quantities of fresh water. As an energy sector changes or expands, the mix of technologies deployed to produce fuels and electricity determines the associated burden on regional water resources. Many reports have identified the water consumption of various energy production technologies. This paper synthesizes and expands upon this previous work by exploring the geographic distribution of water use by national energy portfolios. By defining and calculating an indicator to compare the water consumption of energy production for over 150 countries, we estimate that approximately 52 billion cubic meters of fresh water is consumed annually for global energy production. Further, in consolidating the data, it became clear that both the quality of the data and global reporting standards should be improved to track this important variable at the global scale. By introducing a consistent indicator to empirically assess coupled water-energy systems, it is hoped that this research will provide greater visibility into the magnitude of water use for energy production at the national and global scales.
ISSN:1748-9326
1748-9326
DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/105002