City-scale analysis of water-related energy identifies more cost-effective solutions

Lam, Kin Man; Kenway, Steven; Lant, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2016.11.059

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Energy and water resources are highly connected in cities (Kenway et al 2011, Liu et al 2016, Lam et al 2017b. Urban water agencies use energy to acquire, extract, pump, treat, and discharge water supplies to endusers, while residents and businesses need energy to heat water in buildings (Escriva-Bou et al 2015, Kenway et al 2015, Spang and Loge 2015, Chini et al 2016, Wakeel and Chen 2016, Lam et al 2017a, 2017b, Yu et al 2018. Investigating relationships between energy and water consumption can reveal strategies to reduce operational costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with urban water sectors, both within cities and across broader regions connected by common infrastructure systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy use for urban water management by utilities and households in Los Angeles

Porse

Mika

Escriva-Bou

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Commun.

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Reducing energy consumption for urban water management may yield economic and environmental benefits. Few studies provide comprehensive assessments of energy needs for urban water sectors that include both utility operations and household use. Here, we evaluate the energy needs for urban water management in metropolitan Los Angeles (LA) County. Using planning scenarios that include both water conservation and alternative supply options, we estimate energy requirements of water imports, groundwater pumping, distribution in pipes, water and wastewater treatment, and residential water heating across more than one hundred regional water agencies covering over 9 million people. Results show that combining water conservation with alternative local supplies such as stormwater capture and water reuse (nonpotable or indirect potable) can reduce the energy consumption and intensity of water management in LA. Further advanced water treatment for direct potable reuse could increase energy needs. In aggregate, water heating represents a major source of regional energy consumption. The heating factor associated with grid-supplied electricity drives the relative contribution of energyfor-water by utilities and households. For most scenarios of grid operations, energy for household water heating significantly outweighs utility energy consumption. The study demonstrates how publicly available and detailed data for energy and water use supports sustainability planning. The method is applicable to cities everywhere.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy use for urban water management by utilities and households in Los Angeles

Porse

Mika

Escriva-Bou

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Commun.

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“…While such efforts endure and new solutions will continue to emerge, further efficiency gains are likely to diminish in impact once the more cost-effective options have been adopted. (In a case study of a hypothetical Australian city of population 3.4 million, Lam et al [14] demonstrate that adoption of cost-effective utility-side options would lead to an energy saving of approximately 1300 GWh over 20 years for water supply and sewer services. Cost-effective measures included active leak detection and repair, improving pumping efficiency, and aeration strategies.)…”

Section: End-use Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Integrated management of the end use of water and energy may offer significant advantages that have not yet been embraced. Recent research within Australia suggests that investment in end use options for water-related energy management (instead of utility options) could yield greater energy savings at a greater cost-effectiveness [14]. The energy use associated with urban water end use (water-related energy use, WRE) is estimated to be as much as 11 times that for water service delivery in Australia [17], half of which occurs in households.…”

Section: End-use Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transition to Improved Water-Related Energy Management: Enabling Contexts for Policy Innovation

Binks

Head

Lant

et al. 2020

Water

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We explored the potential for improved policy and regulation with a direct focus on household water-related energy (WRE) management in urban Victoria (Australia). Semi-structured interviews were employed to understand the perspectives of relevant actors within the existing institutional landscape. In this paper, questions about institutional and policy change are addressed through consideration of the literature on transitions management and institutional entrepreneurship. Key policy opportunities identified by the actors include consumer education and advocacy for behaviour change and technology adoption, and further development of residential building standards to improve the selection and layout of building services at the design phase. The work highlights medium-term opportunities to create an enabling environment for policy practitioners in Victoria to improve management of water-related energy use in households. The work provides an important new perspective on transitions theory in the field of integrated resources management.

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“…Therefore, metrics in this work were computed for each of the six water resource zones in the Thames catchment, which are presented in Figure 1. For each water resource zones, was calculated following Lam et al [22] as:…”

Section: Calculating Energy-intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is, therefore, a clear momentum to better understand and control electricity use in the water and wastewater industries of E&W. However, for the moment the scientific literature is lacking, in that there are few published data or regional scale case-studies reporting the influence of water-related electricity use in the sectors of E&W. As studies from other parts of the world have shown, local case-studies on water-related electricity can form a vital pre-requisite in designing energy reduction policies for the sector in terms of their cost-effectiveness and efficacy [21][22][23]. For example, in California, research on water-related energy use, such as that of Klein et al [24] from the California Energy Commission, as well as the studies that proceeded, led to policy-driven action to reduce electricity use in the water sector.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Electricity Consumption Patterns in the Water and Wastewater Sectors in South East England, UK

Majid

Cardenes

Zorn

et al. 2020

Water

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The water and wastewater sectors of England and Wales (E&W) are energy-intensive. Although E&W’s water sector is of international interest, in particular due to the early experience with privatisation, for the time being, few published data on energy usage exist. We analysed telemetry energy-use data from Thames Water Utilities Ltd. (TWUL), the largest water and wastewater company in the UK, which serves one of the largest mega-cities in the world, London. In our analysis, we: (1) break down energy use into their components; (2) present a statistical approach to handling seasonal and random cycles in data; and (3) derive energy-intensity (kWh m−3) metrics and compare them with other regions in the world. We show that electricity use in the sector grew by around 10.8 ± 0.4% year−1 as the utility coped with growing demands and stormwater flooding. The energy-intensity of water services in each of the utility’s service zone was measured in the range 0.46–0.92 kWh m−3. Plans to improve the efficiency of the system could yield benefits in lower energy-intensity, but the overall energy saving would be temporary as external pressures from population and climate change are driving up water and energy use.

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City-scale analysis of water-related energy identifies more cost-effective solutions

Cited by 19 publications

References 17 publications

Energy use for urban water management by utilities and households in Los Angeles

Energy use for urban water management by utilities and households in Los Angeles

The Transition to Improved Water-Related Energy Management: Enabling Contexts for Policy Innovation

An Analysis of Electricity Consumption Patterns in the Water and Wastewater Sectors in South East England, UK

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