As the
world’s population grows, the demand for both resources will continue to
increase, and managing the two assets collectively will help maintain
dependable and sustainable supplies of both water and energy for the coming
generations.
Water and electricity are the foremost utilities we use at
home or in the office. How many times have you experienced panicking because
there was no water when you turned on the tap, or because the TV power
indicator would not turn on? Easy access to water and energy has characterized
the life of many of us in recent decades that living without them within
possibly three decades is utterly unimaginable.
But, do you know that water and energy are, in fact, not
all too separate? In fact utility industry players say that what affects water
has a notable effect on power, and this is true even the other way around. A
collective analysis of water and power has the potential to greatly help
business, community, environmental and governmental stakeholders in trying to
come up with the most sustainable solutions to the world’s escalating challenges
in the maintenance of natural resources.
Water-energy
nexus
According to studies, all types of electric power
generation entail water, either in processing raw materials utilized in the
energy facilities, constructing or maintaining power plants or in producing
electricity. In reality, while renewable sources of energy, like solar and
wind, use very little or no water in creating energy, water may be needed in
developing raw materials used in building turbines and solar panels.
One of the methods of power generation that is observed to
be highly dependent on the availability of water is, of course, hydropower
generation. In no process does water prove to be essential than in hydropower
plants, because variations in rainfall and temperature will considerably affect
water levels in dams and reservoirs, and the health of the turbines. For
example, in an impoundment-type hydropower plant, river water is stored in a
reservoir through the use of a dam. Water released from the reservoirs flow
through a turbine, and the spinning of the turbine activate a generator to
produce electricity.
Water-related weather phenomena like droughts or floods can
lead to exceedingly low levels of water in dams, or to destruction of and
damage to turbines due to silt, respectively. When hydropower generation plants
suffer these devastating predicaments, shortage in electricity supply may
ensue, and a country’s economy may be rendered unstable.
Developing and exploiting petroleum and oil & gas resources also use large amounts of water. Though water is not completely
eliminated, the process produces wastewater that needs to be disposed of or
treated before being reused.
Water used in electrical power creation processes are
either consumed or withdrawn. When water is consumed, it either disappears or
is diverted from its origin. The danger is that the source may no longer be
replenished, or if it does, it may take decades, or even longer. In cases when
water is withdrawn, the quality of water that is given back to the source may no
longer be the same as the time when water was extracted. It may be different in
oxygen content, salinity, acidity, radioactivity and temperature, to name a
few, and the changes may harm the environment and humans who will utilize
it.
On the other hand, water supply and sewage disposal needs
energy. A considerable amount of energy is needed to extract, transport, treat
and use water in urban and rural areas. For instance, drinking water must be
pumped to treatment facilities, pre-treated, and then pushed or transported to
consumers. According to experts, energy consumed in pumping groundwater is
within the area of 537 kWh and 2,270 kWh per million gallons depending on the
pumping depth.
Water desalination is another process that involves a considerably
high energy consumption. As fresh water may not always be abundant or
available, salt water is desalinated to produce water suitable for human
consumption or irrigation. Compared to extracting water from rivers or the
ground, water recycling or water conservation process, desalination entails a
relatively increased level of electricity.
In light of the foregoing, the fact that water and energy
are critical, reciprocally reliant resources may be a foregone conclusion. The
production of electrical energy requires huge amounts of water, and water
extraction, treatment and availability necessitate energy. Today, the world is
facing a looming water-energy crisis that threatens to limit the amount of
drinking water and of water to be used for electricity generation in the coming
decades. Fragmented policies to tackle this challenge are only seen to give
rise to short-term, non-viable results. As the world’s population grows, the
demand for both resources will continue to increase, and managing the two
assets collectively will help maintain dependable and sustainable supplies of
both water and energy for the coming generations.
Post scriptum
Did you know that there is a process of energy generation that
harnesses the power of tides? Tidal energy generators involve large underwater
turbines that are designed to capture the kinetic motion of the ebbing and
surging of ocean tides to produce electricity. Owing to the enormous size of
the world’s oceans, tidal power generation is said to have the potential to be
a main source of energy for countries blessed with the necessary resources.
End
PRESS INQUIRIES
Robert Bagatsing
Altaaqa Global
Tel: +971 56 1749505
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