Global impacts of energy demand on the freshwater resources of nations

Abstract

The growing geographic disconnect between consumption of goods, the extraction and processing of resources, and the environmental impacts associated with production activities makes it crucial to factor global trade into sustainability assessments. Using an empirically validated environmentally extended global trade model, we examine the relationship between two key resources underpinning economies and human well-being-energy and freshwater. A comparison of three energy sectors (petroleum, gas, and electricity) reveals that freshwater consumption associated with gas and electricity production is largely confined within the territorial boundaries where demand originates. This finding contrasts with petroleum, which exhibits a varying ratio of territorial to international freshwater consumption, depending on the origin of demand. For example, although the United States and China have similar demand associated with the petroleum sector, international freshwater consumption is three times higher for the former than the latter. Based on mapping patterns of freshwater consumption associated with energy sectors at subnational scales, our analysis also reveals concordance between pressure on freshwater resources associated with energy production and freshwater scarcity in a number of river basins globally. These energy-driven pressures on freshwater resources in areas distant from the origin of energy demand complicate the design of policy to ensure security of fresh water and energy supply. Although much of the debate around energy is focused on greenhouse gas emissions, our findings highlight the need to consider the full range of consequences of energy production when designing policy.energy | freshwater | nexus | MRIO | sustainability M eeting society's demand for fresh water and energy has been identified as a major challenge for society over the coming decades (1, 2). Most of the estimated 35 million km 3 of fresh water that exists globally is inaccessible (3). Recent estimates put renewable freshwater resources in the region of between 40,000 and 66,000 km 3 ·y −1 (4, 5), of which ∼10% is appropriated for human use (6-8). Although this global total might be considered to fall within the "safe operating space" of humanity (9), it hides substantial mismatches between availability and demand in different regions (7,8,10) and associated pressures on renewable freshwater resources (1, 11). Given that freshwater is central to maintain ecosystem function (12) and biodiversity (13), pressures on freshwater resources can result in the loss of ecosystem services (14-16) and associated benefits to society, ultimately impacting human wellbeing both directly and indirectly (17-19).Fresh water is used by the energy sector along the complete supply chain from extraction and conversion of raw material through to generation of power (2,20), such that limits on access to fresh water through physical scarcity or regulatory control can have significant implications for security of energy supply (21). At the same time, energy is need...

Redox‐Polysilsesquioxane Film as a New Chloride Storage Electrode for Desalination Batteries

“…Global water scarcity and energy are predicted to be key issues that will affect us severely in the near future . Clean water plays a crucial role in maintaining the function of ecosystems and biodiversity.…”

Industrial energy, materials and products: UK decarbonisation challenges and opportunities

“…3 below provides an example of the information generated from Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) models in determining the flow of energy through industry and the economy as a whole [34]. This figure provides an analysis of energy flows {in the European Union (EU-27)}, but further studies have also considered other environmental pressures, such as water [35,36]. Increasingly, studies are undertaken to demonstrate the link of consumption at the city scale with global industrial energy demand [37,38].…”

Water impacts and water-climate goal conflicts of local energy choices – notes from a Swedish perspective

“…Bakken et al, 2013;EPRI, 2008;Holland et al, 2015;Macknick et al, 2012). Still, reported data vary greatly with geographical and technical conditions for the energy systems assessed, and also due to large variation in methods used to measure or indirectly analyse water use.…”