Opportunities for Robustness of Water Footprints in Electricity Generation

Abstract

Current practices of water footprints in the energy sector are limited with static values.• Seasonal assessments of water footprints for electricity will enhance robustness of the metric. 10• Opportunities exist to explore utility of pairing sub-annual assessments of foot-11 prints with forecasts for improved decision-making.

Water for energy: Characterizing co‐evolving energy and water systems under twin climate and energy system nonstationarities

“…Recent efforts to understand water use impacts associated with energy systems (and other uses) have largely focused on collecting inventory data. Some recent work has considered inventories or impact assessments, with efforts to include spatiotemporal resolution or conditions requiring high resolution spatiotemporal data (Chini & Delorit, 2021; Chowdhury et al, 2021; Grubert, 2020; Logan et al, 2021; Lubega & Stillwell, 2017; Pfister et al, 2020). Increasingly, volumetric water‐for‐energy research is demanded as an input for long‐term future system design as opposed to near‐term system characterization.…”

“…Water systems are changing. Flow regimes in climate changed and managed basins are not the same as observed for pre‐industrial natural water systems, and decision support tools presenting volumetric water sustainability assessments should consider the role of hydrology‐based considerations like timing, seasonality, and other contexts on the actual impact of volumetric water use (Chini & Delorit, 2021; DeFlorio et al, 2021; Rupp et al, 2021). Understanding the socioenvironmental impacts of volumetric water use—both consumption and withdrawal—for energy and other water‐using systems in a manner that reflects hydrologic realities requires identifying where water is used, opportunity costs for other users, and when it is used across multiple time scales.…”

“…Water use for energy may be more impactful or less reliable in seasonal periods of lower water availability, which can have serious impacts on energy service provision (Ahmad, 2021; Tarroja et al, 2019). Recent commentaries have proposed that these seasonality issues be addressed by modifying water footprint estimates seasonally (Chini & Delorit, 2021).…”

“…Energy systems have water use requirements that are socially and environmentally impactful (Grubert & Sanders, 2018;Pfister et al, 2009Pfister et al, , 2011Pfister & Suh, 2015). However, the impacts of energy transitions on water availability and subsequent consequences are currently poorly understood and quantified (Chini & Delorit, 2021;Chowdhury et al, 2021). This issue is particularly relevant in the context of highly divergent energy transition pathways (Williams et al, 2021;Zacarias & Grubert, 2021).…”

“…The likely location, timing, source, quality, and alternative demands for water resources used for energy development pathways are at least directionally knowable due to practical constraints on energy infrastructure deployment, so scenarios can be developed with more specificity than volumetric water requirements alone. As such, water-for-energy requirements associated with energy transition deployment pathways represent an opportunity to develop and improve methods for evaluating spatiotemporally resolved environmental impacts under high uncertainty that could actively support decisions leading to path dependencies with serious potential consequences or opportunities for water management (Chini & Delorit, 2021;Peer et al, 2019;Peer & Sanders, 2018;Raptis et al, 2017Raptis et al, , 2020Tarroja et al, 2019Tarroja et al, , 2020. Success in this arena could also have longer term implications for sustainability assessment practice, as lessons learned from evaluating water for energy may be relevant to other noncarbon sustainability issues.…”