Energy, Water and Climate: Connecting the Dots

Image from Manian Ramesh’s presentation

Invitation

From the minute we turn the lights on and brush our teeth in the morning, we rely on energy and water for our quality of life. These two critical resources are intimately connected: it takes energy to treat and transport water, and most power generation requires water. Climate change and other trends such as population growth are likely to affect both, as we shift to lower-carbon energy sources and many regions experience diminishing water resources. This briefing will examine current and future relationships between energy and water and the implications of a changing climate.

Contact Science & the Congress Briefing Series

ACS Science & the Congress Project and the ACS Committee on Corporation Associates

Anne DeMasi

The Dow Chemical Company

• “Energy-Water Nexus: Many Uncertainties Remain about National and Regional Effects of Increased Biofuel Production on Water Resources,” GAO-10-116, November 2009
• “Energy-Water Nexus: Improvements to Federal Water Use Data Would Increase Understanding of Trends in Power Plant Water Use,” GAO-10-23, October 2009
• “Energy and Water: Preliminary Observations on the Links Between Water and Biofuels and Electricity Production,” GAO-09-862T, July 2009

• Web Site

• “Consumptive Water Use in the Production of Bioethanol and Petroleum Gasoline,” Argonne National Laboratory Energy Systems Division, January 2009
• “Baseline and Projected Water Demand Data for Energy and Competing Water Use Sectors,” Deborah Elcock, Argonne National Laboratory Energy Systems Division, November 2008

• “Energy-Water Report to Congress,” December 2006

• Water and Sustainability Program
• “Energy Down the Drain: The Hidden Costs of California’s Water Supply,” NRDC and The Pacific Institute, August 2004
• “Water: Threats and Opportunities,” Peter Gleick, The Pacific Institute, October 2008
• “More with Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California,” The Pacific Institute, September 2008
• “Desalination With A Grain of Salt – A California Perspective” (Executive Summary), The Pacific Institute

• “Technical Paper VI on Climate and Water,” June 2008

• “A Strategy for Federal Science and Technology to Support Water Availability and Quality in the United States,” NSTC Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water Quality and Availability, September 2007

• “Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005,” USGS Circular 1344