Burning Water: A Comparative Analysis of the Energy Return on Water Invested

Mulder, Kenneth; Hagens, Nathan John; Fisher, Brendan

doi:10.1007/s13280-009-0003-x

Cited by 73 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…GHG emissions, for example, are somewhere between 15% and 60% higher for gasoline and diesel produced from tar sands when compared to that produced from conventional petroleum [65,66]. Similarly, the water used per unit of energy produced is also much higher for most low EROI sources of energy [67]. Second, declining EROI increases the GERR.…”

Section: Implications For the Future Of Economic Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of the declining energy return on investment of oil production

Murphy

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Declining production from conventional oil resources has initiated a global transition to unconventional oil, such as tar sands. Unconventional oil is generally harder to extract than conventional oil and is expected to have a (much) lower energy return on (energy) investment (EROI). Recently, there has been a surge in publications estimating the EROI of a number of different sources of oil, and others relating EROI to long-term economic growth, profitability and oil prices. The following points seem clear from a review of the literature: (i) the EROI of global oil production is roughly 17 and declining, while that for the USA is 11 and declining; (ii) the EROI of ultra-deep-water oil and oil sands is below 10; (iii) the relation between the EROI and the price of oil is inverse and exponential; (iv) as EROI declines below 10, a point is reached when the relation between EROI and price becomes highly nonlinear; and (v) the minimum oil price needed to increase the oil supply in the near term is at levels consistent with levels that have induced past economic recessions. From these points, I conclude that, as the EROI of the average barrel of oil declines, long-term economic growth will become harder to achieve and come at an increasingly higher financial, energetic and environmental cost.

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Section: Implications For the Future Of Economic Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of the declining energy return on investment of oil production

Murphy

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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“…The water requirement content (WRC) was defined by reviewing previous studies on the use of water for fossil energy production [31,32] and designated water consumption in this study. Table 1 shows the WRCs for fossil energy production.…”

Section: Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, the blue component of water footprint is expressed in terms of the blue water consumption for fossil energy production in one year (unit: m 3 /year). In general, the water footprint can be evaluated by the bottom-up approach [24,31,36,37] or by the top-down approach [38][39][40]. The top-down approach can be categorized further into production and consumption-based approaches for the estimation of water footprint [40], and is usually used for environmental analyses by the economic input-output analysis [36].…”

Section: Estimation Of the Wfep And Wfesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Use of Fossil Energy Production and Supply in China

Lin

Jiang²,

Duan³

et al. 2017

Water

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Fossil energy and water resources are both important for economic and social development in China, and they are tightly interlinked. Fossil energy production consumes large amounts of water, and it is essential to investigate the water footprint of fossil energy production (WFEP) in China. In addition, fossil energy is supplied to consumers in China by both domestic and foreign producers, and understanding the water footprint of fossil energy supply (WFES) is also highly significant for water and energy development programs in the long-term. The objectives of this paper were to provide an estimation of the blue component of WFEP and WFES in China for the period from 2001 to 2014, and to evaluate the impact on water resources from energy production, the contribution of internal and external WFES, and water-energy related issues of the international energy trade by applying water footprint analysis based on the bottom-up approach. The results indicate that generally, the WFEP and WFES in China both maintained steady growth before 2013, with the WFEP increasing from approximately 3900 million m 3 /year to 10,400 million m 3 /year, while the WFES grew from 3900 million m 3 /year to 11,600 million m 3 /year. The fossil energy production caps of the 13th Five Year Plan can bring the water consumed for fossil energy production back to a sustainable level. Over the long-term, China's energy trade plan should also consider the water and energy resources of the countries from which fossil energy is imported.

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“…The water consumption and water withdrawal include direct water inputs (e.g., water supplied to the growth volumes) and indirect water inputs (e.g., water used during nitrogen fertilizer production and electricity generation), thereby yielding a second-order water analysis. The energy return on water investment (EROWI) is a similar metric for evaluating water intensity [9,34] and can be calculated from the data in this study that are reported in Tables 3A and 4A. However, this metric does not consider the energy quality of the fuels produced, and therefore the and were used as the main metrics for evaluating water intensity in this study.…”

Section: Water Intensity Analysis Formulaementioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehensive Evaluation of Algal Biofuel Production: Experimental and Target Results

et al. 2012

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Worldwide, algal biofuel research and development efforts have focused on increasing the competitiveness of algal biofuels by increasing the energy and financial return on investments, reducing water intensity and resource requirements, and increasing algal productivity. In this study, analyses are presented in each of these areas-costs, resource needs, and productivity-for two cases: (1) an Experimental Case, using mostly measured data for a lab-scale system, and (2) a theorized Highly Productive Case that represents an optimized commercial-scale production system, albeit one that relies on full-price water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide. For both cases, the analysis described herein concludes that the energy and financial return on investments are less than 1, the water intensity is greater than that for conventional fuels, and the amounts of required resources OPEN ACCESSEnergies 2012, 5 1944 at a meaningful scale of production amount to significant fractions of current consumption (e.g., nitrogen). The analysis and presentation of results highlight critical areas for advancement and innovation that must occur for sustainable and profitable algal biofuel production can occur at a scale that yields significant petroleum displacement. To this end, targets for energy consumption, production cost, water consumption, and nutrient consumption are presented that would promote sustainable algal biofuel production. Furthermore, this work demonstrates a procedure and method by which subsequent advances in technology and biotechnology can be framed to track progress.

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Burning Water: A Comparative Analysis of the Energy Return on Water Invested

Cited by 73 publications

References 35 publications

The implications of the declining energy return on investment of oil production

The implications of the declining energy return on investment of oil production

Water Use of Fossil Energy Production and Supply in China

Comprehensive Evaluation of Algal Biofuel Production: Experimental and Target Results

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