Originally published on the CGS blog on March 27, 2014.
Saturday, March 22nd, was World Water Day. Recognized by the United Nations since 1993, World Water Day aims to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the conservation and development of water resources as well as practical policy options to address those issues. Previous years have focused on issues such as “Water Quality” and “Water and Food Security.” The 2014 day was dedicated to the “nexus” of water and energy.
It is easy to forget just how interconnected these two issues are.
Of course it takes energy to extract, treat, and distribute water; “about 8% of the global energy generation is used for pumping, treating and transporting water to various consumers.” But it also takes great quantities of water to produce energy, particularly certain types such as hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal. UN Water also estimates that a rising demand in biofuels could significantly increase the demand for water in energy production.
Overall, we will face an estimated 60% increase in demand for energy over the next three decades. Such a rise in demand puts extra pressure on an already strained world water system; as many as 763 million people already lack access to “improved water sources.” Clearly, the priority is to ensure that these three quarters of a billion people have access to better sources of water. And a lot of progress has been and continues to be made on this front in the last 25 years. In 2012, we reached the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people without access to safe water.
But there is a limited amount of water on the planet and only 3% of it is fresh water. As a result, conservation is an essential tool to address the growing need for access to clean and safe water. We in the United States can do much better in this regard; our per capita water usage is more than double that of the world average. And even in a country like the US there are those at risk of water shortages. Those of us who live in wealthy countries like the US must change our wasteful habits on a personal level as well as pressure our governments to enact policies that will conserve our limited water resources.
Conservation is also critically important to address the anticipated spike in energy demand. A huge portion of the energy produced and consumed currently is wasted. Again, the United States is the wrong kind of leader in this area. Not only is our per capita consumption well above the worldwide average, 61% of all energy produced in the United States is wasted. Lowering our current usage by reducing this wastage is critical to meeting worldwide energy needs in the decades to come. Again, this will come through personal conservation, efficiency standards such as eliminating incandescent light bulbs, and transitioning to new energy technologies.
Not only are the fossil fuels that we rely on polluting and consume a lot of water, they are extremely inefficient. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power consume much less water while at the same time producing cleaner energy. Despite this, worldwide investment in clean energy was only $254 billion in 2013, an 11% decrease from 2012. Worldwide military spending, on the other hand, was an unbelievable $1.7 trillion in 2012.
There is no doubt that the world’s water and energy needs will continue to increase as the population grows and developing countries become wealthier. As a result, water and energy conservation are not a choice; they are an absolute necessity. It is important to remember that it is a luxury to have what seems like unlimited water in our faucets and power in our outlets. But these resources are not unlimited and we cannot wait to start doing our part.
