Challenges and opportunities at the nexus of energy, water, and food: A perspective from the southwest United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT

An enterprise control methodology for the techno-economic assessment of the energy water nexus

“…In the meantime, the energy-water-nexus literature has come up with individual technologies, policy recommendations and system analysis techniques to study both the electricity and water supply systems. Policy-based studies tend to take a qualitative and sometimes statistical approach while focusing on a specific geographical region [3,8,24,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. Similarly, system analysis techniques have been case-study driven, geography-specific, rather than generic methodologies that are generally applicable.…”

“…To illustrate, a recent study estimates that water withdrawals by electricity generating facilities in 2010 constituted 45% of the overall freshwater withdrawals in the United States with approximately 2% of that water being consumed as a result [4]. In addition to cooling purposes, large quantities of water are utilized in the extraction of raw fuels for electricity generation [7,8]. A recent study reported that the water consumption (in liters per gigajoule -L/GJ) for worldwide production of carbon-based and nuclear fuels is as follows: 1) traditional oil (3-7 L/GJ); 2) oil from oil sands (70-1800 L/GJ); 3) conventional natural gas (minimal water use); 4) shale gas (36-54 L/GJ); 5) coal (5-70 L/GJ); and 6) uranium (4-22 L/GJ) [8].…”

“…In addition to cooling purposes, large quantities of water are utilized in the extraction of raw fuels for electricity generation [7,8]. A recent study reported that the water consumption (in liters per gigajoule -L/GJ) for worldwide production of carbon-based and nuclear fuels is as follows: 1) traditional oil (3-7 L/GJ); 2) oil from oil sands (70-1800 L/GJ); 3) conventional natural gas (minimal water use); 4) shale gas (36-54 L/GJ); 5) coal (5-70 L/GJ); and 6) uranium (4-22 L/GJ) [8]. Given that in 2015, 76.9% of the world's total electricity was generated from oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear fuels while 16% came from hydroelectricity [9], reducing the water intensity of these generation processes is crucial to ensuring water security.…”

A Residential Load Scheduling with the Integration of On-Site PV and Energy Storage Systems in Micro-Grid

“…On the other hand, better management of fuel intensive resources and end user consumption behaviours can alleviate the strain on these commodities [30]. Therefore, flexible control of the energy supply and use system [19,31] is crucial within the context of renewable energy and storage integration [32]. In addition, a recent study shows the water usage for carbon-based and nuclear fuel-based energy as follows: (i) oil from oil reservoirs (70-1800 L/GJ), (ii) shale gas (36-54 L/GJ), coal (5-70 L/GJ), (iii) uranium (4-22 L/GJ), and (iv) traditional oil (3-7 L/GJ) [31].…”

“…Therefore, flexible control of the energy supply and use system [19,31] is crucial within the context of renewable energy and storage integration [32]. In addition, a recent study shows the water usage for carbon-based and nuclear fuel-based energy as follows: (i) oil from oil reservoirs (70-1800 L/GJ), (ii) shale gas (36-54 L/GJ), coal (5-70 L/GJ), (iii) uranium (4-22 L/GJ), and (iv) traditional oil (3-7 L/GJ) [31]. Another study reveals that 76.9% of electricity is produced from oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear fuels in the year 2015, while only 16% is generated from hydrothermal power plants.…”