Water is used around the world for the production of electricity, but new research results show that there will not be enough water in the world to meet demand by 2040 if the energy and power situation does not improve before then.
Two new reports that focus on the global electricity water nexus have just been published following three years of work by researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Vermont Law School and CNA Corporation in the USA.
The studies show that by the year 2040 there will not be enough water in the world to meet world population drinking water requirements and keep the current energy and power solutions going.
In most countries, electricity is the biggest source of water consumption because the power plants need cooling cycles in order to function. The research has also yielded the surprising finding that most power systems do not even register how much water is being used to keep the systems going.
Professor Benjamin Sovacool from Aarhus University said:
“It’s a huge problem that the electricity sector do not even realise how much water they actually consume. And together with the fact that we do not have unlimited water resources, it could lead to a serious crisis if nobody acts on it soon.”
Water scarcity issue will affect 30-40% of the world by 2020
Combining the new research results with projections about water shortage and the world population, it shows that by 2020 many areas of the world will no longer have access to clean drinking water. In fact, the results predict that by 2020 about 30-40% of the world will have water scarcity, and according to the researchers, climate change can make this even worse.
“This means that we’ll have to decide where we spend our water in the future. Do we want to spend it on keeping the power plants going or as drinking water? We don’t have enough water to do both”, Professor Benjamin Sovacool added.
In the reports, the researchers emphasise six general recommendations for decision-makers to follow in order to stop this development and handle the crisis around the world:
- Improve energy efficiency
- Better research on alternative cooling cycles
- Registering how much water power plants use
- Massive investments in wind energy
- Massive investments in solar energy
- Abandon fossil fuel facilities in all water stressed places (which means half the planet)
Close up on France, the US, China and India
The team of researchers conducted their research focusing on four different case studies in France, the United States, China and India respectively. All four case studies project that it will be impossible to continue to produce electricity in and meet the water demand by 2040 unless urgent action is taken.
Professor Benjamin Sovacool concluded:
“If we keep doing business as usual, we are facing an insurmountable water shortage – even if water was free, because it’s not a matter of the price. There will no water by 2040 if we keep doing what we’re doing today. There’s no time to waste. We need to act now.”
Click here to download A Clash of Competing Necessities: Water Adequacy and Electric Reliability in China, India, France, and Texas
Click here to download Capturing Synergies Between Water Conservation and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Power Sector
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