Scotland's industrial water use: Understanding recent changes and examining the future

Abstract

Future climate scenarios predict significant changes in the availability of water resources at global and regional scales. Knowledge of the possible economic consequences of this are limited by a shortage of data linking economic activity with physical water use. Matching a unique premise-level dataset to economic indicators at industrial/sector level, this paper undertakes a decomposition of changes in industrial water demand for Scotland between 2012 and 2016. Results highlight the importance of taking a sectoral approach, as changes in sectoral water intensity are significant. Furthermore, changes in the structure of the economy, i.e. a move away from water-intensive industries, highlight further reductions in overall water consumption. By considering future scenarios for Scottish water resources, this paper identifies key multi-disciplinary research challenges to address the major obstacles in developing a climate-ready water policy, which also captures the potential economic opportunities for Scotland from an awareness of the role of water in the economy.

Driving Factors of Industrial Water Use Change Based on Carbon Emission and Sectoral Perspectives in Hebei Province, China

“…However, the goal of industrial restructuring is not only water saving [38], and carbon reduction is also one of its goals. Some researchers have concluded that the water use efficiency factor [14] and the industrial structure factor [30] are the factors that contribute to the inhibition of the increase in industrial water use, while the economic scale factor [19] is the promoting factor, which is consistent with the conclusions of this study.…”

“…Industrial water use is usually decomposed into three factors: the economic scale, structure, and water use efficiency [29,30]. There is also a significant positive correlation between energy consumption and water use [31].…”

“…The sum of these two effects gradually changed from a negative to a positive value, indicating that increasing water use efficiency can significantly reduce water use. However, due to the limitations of technological development, technological advancements cannot infinitely enhance water use efficiency [30].…”