Demystifying the jargon used in discussions around the Water-Energy Nexus

Published on January 15, 2013 18:15 by Kiran Pereira

Hi All,

Here is an excellent primer on the Water-Energy Nexus which is the focus of this particular group in the Water Network.

@http://www.worldpolicy.org/sites/default/files/policy_papers/THE%20WATER-ENERGY%20NEXUS_0.pdf

If you've been foxed by the difference in terms such as consumption and withdrawal or even terms like carbon capture and carbon sequestration, do read the above mentioned report.

Another good reason to read this report is that it brings to light key trade-offs that will need to be made as we go along. As an example:

'Based on existing data, the most startling finding is that (with some notable exceptions) both traditional and existing alternative energy technologies are evolving toward higher water consumption per unit of energy produced.

Both emerging petroleum and alternative transportation fuels consume more water than conventional petroleum-based fuels:

• Petroleum from the Canadian oil sands extracted via surface mining techniques can consume 20 times more water than conventional oil drilling. As a specific example of an underlying data weakness, this figure excludes the increasingly important steam-assisted gravity drainage technique (SAGD) method. We encourage future researchers to fill this hole.
• Irrigated first-generation soy- and corn-based biofuels can consume thousands of times more water than traditional oil drilling, primarily through irrigation. More research is needed to evaluate second and third generation biofuels.'