The water consumption of energy production: an international comparison

Spang, Edward S.; Moomaw, William R.; Gallagher, Kelly Sims; Kirshen, Paul; Marks, David H.

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/105002

Cited by 172 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The highest contributor to the impacts associated with water scarcity in the majority of pathways is electricity consumption (Figure 3). Consequently, the mix of technologies deployed to produce fuels and electricity determines the associated burden on regional water resources [56]. As competition and conflicts among agriculture, industry, and cities for limited water supplies are already escalating further analysis would consider the particular water resources used and investigate the sustainability of using the water.…”

Section: Midpoint Environmental Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment and Water Footprint of Hydrogen Production Methods: From Conventional to Emerging Technologies

et al. 2018

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A common sustainability issue, arising in production systems, is the efficient use of resources for providing goods or services. With the increased interest in a hydrogen (H 2 ) economy, the life-cycle environmental performance of H 2 production has special significance for assisting in identifying opportunities to improve environmental performance and to guide challenging decisions and select between technology paths. Life cycle impact assessment methods are rapidly evolving to analyze multiple environmental impacts of the production of products or processes. This study marks the first step in developing process-based streamlined life cycle analysis (LCA) of several H 2 production pathways combining life cycle impacts at the midpoint (17 problem-oriented) and endpoint (3 damage-oriented) levels using the state-of-the-art impact assessment method ReCiPe 2016. Steam reforming of natural gas, coal gasification, water electrolysis via proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM), solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC), biomass gasification and reforming, and dark fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass were analyzed. An innovative aspect is developed in this study is an analysis of water consumption associated with H 2 production pathways by life-cycle stage to provide a better understanding of the life cycle water-related impacts on human health and natural environment. For water-related scope, Water scarcity footprint (WSF) quantified using Available WAter REmaining (AWARE) method was applied as a stand-alone indicator. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each production pathway, identify the drivers of environmental impact, quantify midpoint environmental impact and its influence on the endpoint environmental performance. The findings of this study could serve as a useful theoretical reference and practical basis to decision-makers of potential environmental impacts of H 2 production systems.

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Section: Midpoint Environmental Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment and Water Footprint of Hydrogen Production Methods: From Conventional to Emerging Technologies

et al. 2018

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“…Energy production requires water, either directly (hydropower) or indirectly [4,5]. In conventional thermal power plants, the production chain of energy involves various stages including fuel acquisition, processing and transportation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Southern Africa’s Water–Energy Nexus: Towards Regional Integration and Development

Mabhaudhi

Mpandeli

Madhlopa

et al. 2016

Water

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Abstract:The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) water and energy sectors are under increasing pressure due to population growth and agricultural and industrial development. Climate change is also negatively impacting on the region's water and energy resources. As the majority of SADC's population lives in poverty, regional development and integration are underpinned by water and energy security as the watercourses in the region are transboundary in nature. This paper reviews the region's water and energy resources and recommends policies based on the water-energy nexus approach. This is achieved by reviewing literature on water and energy resources as well as policy issues. Water resources governance provides a strong case to create a water-energy nexus platform to support regional planning and integration as SADC countries share similar climatic and hydrological conditions. However, there has been a gap between water and energy sector planning in terms of policy alignment and technical convergence. These challenges hinder national policies on delivering economic and social development goals, as well as constraining the regional goal of greater integration. Regional objectives on sustainable energy and access to clean water for all can only be achieved through the recognition of the water-energy nexus, championed in an integrated and sustainable manner. A coordinated regional water-energy nexus approach stimulates economic growth, alleviates poverty and reduces high unemployment rates. The shared nature of water and energy resources requires far more transboundary water-energy nexus studies to be done in the context of regional integration and policy formulation.

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“…In this context, the estimation of water consumption for the domestic production of coal and oil followed these assumptions. However, water consumption estimates for the external supplies of the two energies used the average WCFs, according to the study by Spang et al [33], which can reflect the most common production techniques, since limited data can be obtained on specific WCFs in different countries. The adopted WCF for natural gas was a unified value for both domestic production and external supplies, and it was assumed that the gas was produced from gas reservoirs but not in combination with oil [34].…”

Section: Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, the WCFs for energy production differed across countries for various technological and production condition reasons, but data on the accurate water consumption for fossil energy production could not be acquired for China. The WCFs used for the estimation of the WFEP and WFES were consolidated according to the previous literature, and these estimations had been well applied in studies by Qin et al [24] and Spang et al [33]. Therefore, it was thought that they were the "optimal" values to be used in this study.…”

Section: Limitation Of the Studymentioning

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 of energy production: an international comparison

Cited by 172 publications

References 13 publications

Life Cycle Assessment and Water Footprint of Hydrogen Production Methods: From Conventional to Emerging Technologies

Life Cycle Assessment and Water Footprint of Hydrogen Production Methods: From Conventional to Emerging Technologies

Southern Africa’s Water–Energy Nexus: Towards Regional Integration and Development

Water Use of Fossil Energy Production and Supply in China

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