Article: Water and Energy

Created: Jan 05, 2007
Updated: Mar 05, 2008

Water and Energy

Water and Energy

Water and energy are often intimately intertwined. It can take energy to move water, sometimes hundreds of miles horizontally in aqueducts, sometimes thousands of feet vertically from aquifers. It can take constant energy input to achieve a harmless water quality, especially if the water source is questionable. The greatest operational cost of sewage plants is the energy to clean the water for discharge, and the conseqence of failure is disastrous pollution. The most expensive conventional way to purify water is desalinization because it is so energy intensive, with current technologies and energy sources. In addition, every energy recipe says "add water". Water is required in mining and producing fuels, in cooling power plants, and in boilers in industry. Water is used from reservoirs in the production of hydropower. All agrofuels require water and energy for growth and production. Where water flow or energy flow is limited, infrastructure fails to provide life support. Where water is diverted from natural uses, biodiversity is lost.

FEATURED ORGANIZATIONS

WaterMotor is a La Paz-based project to develop the ''Watermotor,'' a low-cost micro-turbine to capture hydroelectric energy in Bolivia. Each small fast flowing stream offers a wealth of clean, free energy...

Tn_hydropowerlogonew

Founded in 1992, the Hydropower Reform Coalition is an American consortium of national, state, and local conservation and recreation organizations working to reform national hydropower policies...

FEATURED RESOURCES

(Photo source/Flickr)
Meeting Africa's Energy Needs: The Costs and Benefits of Hydropower a joint report published by WWF, Oxfam GB, and WaterAid, analyzes the role hydropower can play in securing a sustainable energy future for Africa...

Tn_rainharvesting

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands is the complete three-volume guide on how to conceptualize, design, and implement sustainable water-harvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community...

Did You Know?

Photo source/BBC

Rural indigenous communities in the mountainous region of northern Viet Nam often lack electricity, giving them little opportunity to undertake practical and income-generating activities after nightfall. Recently, however, these communities have adopted pico-hydro technology -- small-scale, low-tech hydroelectric turbines that harness small streams of falling water to generate power. Pico-hydro now offers to electrify rural Vietnamese communities, giving them valuable electricity for such economically and educationally productive uses as nighttime lighting, refrigeration, television, and more! See Pico-Hydro Vietnam for more details, or visit Hands On: Pico-Hydro

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Tags/Keywords

water transfer projects, water pumps, groundwater, desalinization, fuel cycle, coolant water, boiler water, thermal electric generating facilities, cooling ponds, cooling towers, once-through cooling, water consumption, water withdrawals, slurry pipeline, mine reclamation, oil recovery, synthetic fuels, flue gas desulfurization, hydropower, reservoirs, evaporative losses, geothermal, water treatment, biomass, irrigation, dust control

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Water and Energy

Water and Energy

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