Projected median temperature change in °F (of 112 climate projections) over the Western United States, 2070–2099 relative to 1950–1979. Source: DOI. Click to enlarge. The US Department of the Interior released a report that assesses climate change risks and how these risks could impact water operations, hydropower, flood control, and... Read more →
The 50-year linear surface salinity trend (pss/50-years). Contours every 0.2 pss are plotted in white. Regions where the resolved linear trend is not significant at the 99% confidence level are stippled in grey. Source: Durack and Wijffels. Click to enlarge. A new study co-authored by CSIRO (Australia) scientists Paul Durack... Read more →
Ford Becomes First Automaker to Join the CDP Water Disclosure
07 April 2010
Ford Motor Company is the first automaker and one of several companies taking a leadership position in joining the CDP Water Disclosure project, which will establish a water disclosure protocol for companies around the world and promote conservation and stewardship. The initiative is sponsored by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP),... Read more →
Oily water treatment schematics. Click to enlarge. ABB has developed a water treatment technology that cleans oily wastewater—by far the largest waste product in oil and gas production—quickly, cost-effectively and energy-efficiently. Oily wastewater, also known as produced water, is basically water that is trapped in underground formations that is brought... Read more →
by Jeff Curtis and Jack Rosebro Cross-section of COMPAC seawater-lubricated stern tube bearing system for ocean-going vessels. Source: Thordon Bearings Click to enlarge. At last week’s Ocean Innovation 2009 conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Craig Carter, Director of Marketing and Customer Service at Thordon Bearings detailed the company’s progress in... Read more →
Consumptive freshwater use for ethanol and petroleum gasoline production. Data: Wu, ANL/ESD/09-1. Click to enlarge. In the US, producing one gallon of ethanol from switchgrass consumes approximately the same net amount of water as does producing a gallon of gasoline from conventional crude or oil sands oil, according to a... Read more →
Colorado River Basin including major dams. Inset (a) shows water demand and losses and supply. Pink: 9-year moving average of the natural flow above Imperial Dam, AZ. Blue: 9-year moving average of the total consumptive use in the Lower and Upper basin. Inset (b) shows 5-year moving average of paleo... Read more →
GAO Preliminary Observations on Links Between Water, Biofuels and Electricity; Calls for More Research
13 July 2009
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week provided preliminary observations as testimony to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology on the water-energy nexus related to biofuels and water and thermoelectric power plants and water. The subcommittee had requested GAO undertake three studies related to... Read more →
Total weighted global average water footprints (blue and green) for major ethanol and biodiesel crops in m3 water per GJ fuel. The yellow marker (also left axis) indicates the total weighted global average WF for bioelectricity from the same crops. The red marker (right axis) indicates liters of water required... Read more →
The change in runoff inferred from streamflow records worldwide between 1948 and 2004, with bluish colors indicating more streamflow and reddish colors less. The white land areas indicate inland-draining basins or regions for which there are insufficient data to determine the runoff trends. (Graphic courtesy Journal of Climate, modified by... Read more →
Top: County-level corn production and ethanol facilities in 2007. The graph illustrates the proximity of ethanol facilities to corn production. Bottom: EWe and TCW of each state as of 2007. The foreground bar height indicates the EWe of each state, with the portion of ground and surface water indicated by... Read more →
Log scale plot of illustrative water consumption by energy-related activity. In the examples cited in the report, biomass for biofuels has the largest and widest ranging footprint: from 24,000 m3 per 1,000 GJ in the Netherlands to 143,000 m3 per 1,000 GJ in Zimbabwe. Data: WBCSD (2009). Click to enlarge.... Read more →
Report Finds Water Stress Rapidly Becoming Key Strategic Risk to Commerce; Impending Water/Energy Collision
17 March 2009
by Jack Rosebro Water consumption or withdrawals per unit of energy produced, by energy type, in the United States. Source: DHI Group. Click to enlarge. A Pacific Institute report commissioned by Ceres, whose Investor Network on Climate Risk advises investors with more than US$7 trillion in assets, concludes that impacts... Read more →