Rethinking the Concepts of Virtual Water and Water Footprint in Relation to the Production–Consumption Binomial and the Water–Energy Nexus

Abstract

In the field of Ecological Economics, the need of using physical indicators to analyse economic processes, at the same time they serve as tools in decision making, has been lately highlighted. Virtual Water (VW) and Water Footprint (WF) are two useful indicators in achieving this objective, the first one from the perspective of production, the second one from that of consumption. This difference between them is interesting inasmuch as it allows to identify the subjects who are responsible for water consumption, whether producers or consumers, and proves both indicators' potential when designing water management policies. In this work, we consider a hypothesis according to which there is a clear difference between the two concepts-Virtual Water and Water Footprint-and this difference, although evident in their respective conceptualizations, is not reflected in their estimations and applications. This is true to the point that the two concepts are often used as synonyms, thus wasting the enormous potential associated to their difference. Starting from this hypothesis, our objective is, first of all, to highlight this evident but ignored difference between VW and WF through a deep and thorough literature review of the conceptual definitions and contributions, the methodologies developed and the applications made regarding the two concepts. Second, we intend to make a conceptual and methodological proposition aimed at underlining the differences already mentioned and to identify responsibilities in water consumption. We do it by

Towards Quantification of the Water Footprint of Paper: A First Estimate of its Consumptive Component

“…Ercin et al 2011) and studies that discuss the way these concepts may be used (e.g. Aldaya et al 2010;Wichelns 2010a;2010b;Velázquez et al 2011). So far, the water footprint of paper has not been studied in enough detail to reflect on its claims on water resources.…”

Water, energy, and food nexus: review of global implementation and simulation model development

“…The amount of water contained in food products is termed virtual water or water footprint. Figure 2 shows a diagram presenting the clear and detailed differences between virtual water and water footprint, as adapted from Velázquez et al (2011). Table 1.…”

“…Table 1. Water intensity for energy production (Lamberton et al, 2010;Desai, 2013 (Velázquez et al, 2011).…”

“…Based on the figure, virtual water is defined as the amount of water used to produce and transform raw foodstuffs into food products (producer viewpoint), while the water footprint is the amount of virtual water plus the water used to deliver the product to the consumer (consumer viewpoint) (Velázquez et al, 2011). In Figure 2 it is clear that the water footprint represents all amounts of water that consist of a single unit of food that is consumed by the consumer.…”

Water for Energy: Inconsistent Assessment Standards and Inability to Judge Properly

“…Water use (utilization) is perhaps the most poorly defined water impact assessment metric, which has been equated to water withdrawal most of the time but has also been used as an equivalent of water consumption. Similarly, virtual water content [81,82] and water footprint [82] have been used interchangeably with no clear understanding of their major distinction [77].…”