Water Shortages Slow Energy Production Worldwide

Jan 21, 2014 10:30 JST

Source: World Future Energy Summit (WFES)

New Thirsty Energy initiative to help countries mitigate impact of water scarcity on energy security

ABU DHABI, UAE, Jan 21, 2014 - (ACN Newswire) - The World Bank is launching a new initiative at the World Future Energy Summit and International Water Summit in Abu Dhabi that will help developing countries better plan and manage scaling-up energy capacity to meet rising demand, in tandem with water resource management.

Producing energy requires a lot of water. Yet, the availability of and access to water is negatively impacting energy production around the world.

Last year alone, water shortages shut down thermal power plants in India, decreased energy production in power plants in the United States and threatened hydropower generation in many countries, including Sri Lanka, China and Brazil.

The problem is expected only to get worse. By 2035, the world's energy consumption will increase by 35 percent, which in turn will increase water consumption by 85 percent, according to the International Energy Agency.

"The world's energy and water are inextricably linked. With demand rising for both resources and increasing challenges from climate change, water scarcity can threaten the long-term viability of energy projects and hinder development," said Rachel Kyte, World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change.

Part of the challenge for the energy sector is the competing demand for water. This demand will grow as the world's population reaches 9 billion, requiring a 50 percent increase in agricultural production and a 15 percent increase in already-strained water withdrawals. With two-thirds of the world's population - or 5 billion people - urbanized by 2030, cities in developing countries will be under tremendous pressure to meet the demand for food, energy, and water services. Yet today, some 780 million people lack access to improved water and 2.5 billion, more than one-third of the world's people, do not have basic sanitation.

Thirsty Energy is a global initiative aimed to help governments prepare for an uncertain future by:

-- identifying synergies and quantifying tradeoffs between energy development plans and water use
-- piloting cross-sectoral planning to ensure sustainability of energy and water investments
-- designing assessment tools and management frameworks to help governments coordinate decision-making

With the energy sector as an entry point, initial work has already started in South Africa and dialogue has been initiated in Bangladesh, Morocco, and Brazil where the challenges have already manifested and thus where demand exists for integrated approaches.

Failing to anticipate water constraints in energy investments can increase risks and costs for energy projects. In fact, the majority of energy and utility companies consider water a substantive risk and report water-related business impacts.

The issue is too large for any partner or sector to tackle alone.

"Water constraints on the energy sector can be overcome, but all stakeholders, public and private, must work together to develop innovative tools and use water as a guiding factor for assessing viability of projects," said Maria van der Hoeven, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency. "The absence of integrated planning is unsustainable."

Solutions exist, but countries must continue to innovate and adapt policies and technology to address the complexity of the landscape. These solutions include technological development and adoption, improved operations to reduce water use and impacts in water quality, and strong integrated planning.

"We cannot meet our global energy goals of extending access to the poor, increasing efficiency and expanding renewables without water. The water energy interrelationship is critical to build resilient as well as efficient, clean energy systems. The time to act is now," said Kyte.

Related links -
Water Shortages Slow Energy Production Worldwide: http://bit.ly/1jqTv1Q
Infographic: Thirsty Energy - Energy and Water's Interdependence: http://bit.ly/1fP6QDh

Contact:

strategic communication for development - pr audit
Soren Bauer
Phone: +43 664 530 7334
Skype: soren.bauer

Source: World Future Energy Summit (WFES)
Sectors: Water, Environment, ESG, Alternative Energy

Latest Release

Soligenix's Leadership Aims to Drive Growth in Rare Disease Markets in 2025 and 2026
Feb 22, 2025 04:50 JST

Honda Receives Highest Ranking of 3 Stars as Part of FIA Road Safety Index, Tool for Organizations and Companies to Measure Their Road Safety Footprint
Feb 21, 2025 19:40 JST

Honda Partners with United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) to Work Toward Reduction of Fatalities from Traffic Collisions
Feb 21, 2025 19:11 JST

Mitsubishi Logistics Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Yourstand Inc. Advancing Completely CO2-Free Electrification of Pharmaceutical Transportation
Feb 21, 2025 15:01 JST

NEC Innovation Challenge awards Canada's Prevu3D Inc. with the NEC Award and NOFF Award
Feb 21, 2025 14:39 JST

NEC Develops Near Real-time RIC for High Performance 5G vRAN
Feb 21, 2025 12:00 JST

Eisai Selected for "Human Capital Leaders 2024" and "Human Capital Management Gold Quality" for Second Consecutive Year, as a Company Committed to Excellent Management and Disclosure of Human Capital Initiatives
Feb 20, 2025 13:29 JST

NEC X & Carbide Ventures Partner To Rapidly Accelerate Early-Stage Startups
Feb 19, 2025 20:16 JST

Mitsubishi Power Advances Bahrain's Industrial Growth with Completion of Alba's Power Station 5 Block 4 Combined Cycle Power Plant Project
Feb 19, 2025 16:54 JST

Honda Reveals Specification for its Next-generation Fuel Cell Module
Feb 19, 2025 11:07 JST

NEC Orchestrating Future Fund invests in Aetion, a U.S.-based provider of healthcare analytics platforms
Feb 19, 2025 09:08 JST

Osaka Gas and MHI Launch CO2NNEX Digital Platform for Management and Transfer of Clean Gas Certificates for e-Methane, for Use during Expo 2025
Feb 18, 2025 13:18 JST

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing starts WEC season with Qatar challenge
Feb 17, 2025 18:45 JST

FLAT OUT IN TOKYO "Red Bull Showrun x Powered by Honda" April 2 (Wed)
Feb 17, 2025 16:21 JST

Thrilling TOYOTA GAZOO Racing one-two on Swedish snow
Feb 17, 2025 14:23 JST

Launch of Joint Demonstration Experiment of Remote Provision of GPU Computing Power
Feb 17, 2025 14:10 JST

Mazda to Strengthen Production and Sales Systems in Thailand
Feb 14, 2025 17:04 JST

Toyota Develops New Fuel Cell System
Feb 14, 2025 15:27 JST

Development of Prediction Model for Brain Amyloid-Beta Accumulation for Early Screening of Alzheimer's Disease
Feb 14, 2025 12:09 JST

Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi Motors terminate MOU regarding consideration of tripartite collaboration
Feb 13, 2025 16:20 JST

More Latest Release >>

Latest Release

Related Release