Mapping water consumption for energy production around the Pacific Rim [electronic resource]
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| Online Access: |
Online Access (via OSTI) |
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| Corporate Author: | |
| Format: | Government Document Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, D.C. : Oak Ridge, Tenn. :
United States. National Nuclear Security Administration ; distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy,
2016.
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| Subjects: |
| Abstract: | World energy demand is projected to increase by more than a third by 2035 and with it the use of water to extract and process fuels and generate electricity. Management of this energy-water nexus requires a clear understanding of the inter-related demands of these resources as well as their regional distribution. Toward this need the fresh water consumed for energy production was mapped for almost 12 000 watersheds distributed across the 21-economies comprising the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Fresh water consumption was estimated for ten different sectors including thermoelectric and hydroelectric power; energy extraction including coal, oil, natural gas, uranium and unconventional oil/gas; energy processing including oil and biofuels; and biofuel feedstock irrigation. These measures of water consumption were put in context by drawing comparison with published measures of water risk. In total 791 watersheds (32%) of the 2511 watersheds where energy related water consumption occurred were also characterized by high to extreme water risk, these watersheds were designated as being at energy-water risk. Furthermore, for six economies watersheds at energy-water risk represented half or more of all basins where energy related water consumption occurred, while four additional economies exceeded 30% |
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| Item Description: | Published through SciTech Connect. 09/07/2016. "sand2016-9169j" "647457" Environmental Research Letters 11 9 ISSN 1748-9326 AM. Vincent Tidwell; Barbie Moreland. |
| Physical Description: | 23 p. : digital, PDF file. |