FA2020 - ENE505 - L12 - Energy and Water

The Energy-Water Nexus
Kelly T. Sanders
November 5, 2020
Energy and water are the two looming crises of
the 21st century…
National Geographic 3/2008

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.
11/5/2020 2
There Are Good and Bad Tradeoffs At the
Energy Water Nexus (Quantity)
• With sufficiently abundant, clean and affordable
energy, our water problems are solved
– Long-haul transfer, desalination, deep wells,…
• With sufficiently abundant, clean, and affordable
water, our energy problems are solved
– Biofuels, hydro,…
• Coupled infrastructures causes cascading
vulnerabilities
– Water constraints become energy constraints
– Energy constraints become water constraints

11/5/2020 3
There Are Good and Bad Tradeoffs At the
Energy Water Nexus (Quality)
• Energy affects water quality (good and bad)

– Energy is used to treat (clean, move, heat,…)
– Energy pollutes water (thermal, chemical,…)
• Water affects energy quality (good and bad)
– Improved efficiency at power plants
(thermoelectric, solar PV, …)
– Improved recovery for oil and gas production
– Degraded performance in heat waves

11/5/2020 4
The Energy-Water Nexus: Can we solve both
crises together?

11/5/2020 5
There Are Several Main Points to This Talk
1. Energy and water are interrelated
• we use energy for water and water for energy
2. The energy and water relationship is already under strain
• constraints in one resource introduce constraints in the other
3. Trends imply these strains will be exacerbated
• Population growth increases total demand
• Economic growth increases per capita demand
• Global climate change intensifies the hydrological cycle
• Policy shifts towards increasing water-intensity of energy and
energy-intensity of water
4. There Are Data and Governance Problems
5. Technical and Policy Solutions Exist

11/5/2020 6
Energy and Water are Interrelated

Source: EPRI
11/5/2020 7
We Use Water for Energy
• We use water for the power sector
– Driving hydroelectric turbines
– Driving steam turbines
– Cooling power plants
• We use water for fuels production
– Growing biofuels
– Extracting oil and gas
– Mining coal and uranium
• We use water for transporting fuels

11/5/2020 8
Water withdrawals in the US is dominated
by…
Industry
Public
Supply
US Water
Agriculture
Withdrawals: Thermoelectric (Irrigation)
410 billion GPD
Power
(Billions of Gallons per Day)

11/5/2020 9
Globally, agriculture represents 70% of water
withdrawals
Industrial
Municipal
Agriculture
Fao.org

11/5/2020 10
Water withdrawals vs consumption

11/5/2020 11
Power Generation

11/5/2020 12
Dams often serve as a source of water and
electricity
- Hoover Dam
generates power
for 1.3 million
people across NV,
AZ, and CA
- Large source of
water to Las Vegas
(Ethan Miller, Getty Images )
and Los Angeles
• “The surface of Lake Mead has dropped 100 feet in six years. If it drops 50 feet
lower, Las Vegas could lose an intake that supplies 40 percent of its water.
Simultaneously, "Hoover Dam stops generating electricity”
– Denver Post, 1/29/2008
11/5/2020 13
While hydropower is a low-carbon energy
source, it can affect natural ecosystems
• Low amounts of dissolved
oxygen can cause hypoxic
conditions
• Aquatic environments
affected by thermal and
nutrient changes
• GHG emissions are
associated with the anaerobic
decomposition of organic
matter that is submerged
during the creation of Hoover Dam
Image: wiki.com
reservoirs

11/5/2020 14
Thermoelectric power plants withdraw
more water than any other user in the US
circleofblue.org
11/5/2020 15
Nearly 90% of US electricity is generated in
thermoelectric power plants that require water for
cooling

11/5/2020 16
Water use at power plants varies
• Technical aspects
– Fuel type
– Power cycle
– Cooling technology
• Natural aspects
– Meteorological conditions
– Site location
• Legal/policy aspects
circleofblue.org
– Water rights
– Environmental regulations
11/5/2020 17
Water Use At the Power Plant Depends on Fuel,
Power Cycle & Cooling Technology
• Recirculating Water “Consumption”:
Water does not return
cooling: to reservoir (Evaporation)
- Small withdrawals
- Large consumption
• Once-through
cooling:
- Large withdrawals
- Small consumption
- Being phased out in Water “Withdrawal”:
Water used and released
California to original basin
[Image source: Union of Concerned Scientists]

11/5/2020 18
Cooling thermoelectric power plants can
impact ecosystems through entrapment and
discharge to cooling reservoirs
• Thermal pollution associated
with increases of water
temperatures in a stream, lake,
or ocean
• A moratorium on open-loop
cooling clashes with some
governmental bodies pushing
power plants to coasts (where
open-loop cooling is practically
necessary) to avoid the use of
continental freshwater sources.
Biofouling on Intake Screen
Image: pennnet.com

11/5/2020 19
Solar, Wind, and Natural Gas Combined
Cycle Offer Low Water Power
Image courtesy of Treehugger.com

11/5/2020 20
Water Use At the Power Plant Depends on Fuel,
Power Cycle & Cooling Technology
Closed-Loop Open-Loop
(cooling tower)
Fuel Withdrawals Consumption Withdrawals Consumption
[gal/kWh] [gal/kWh] [gal/kWh] [gal/kWh]
Nuclear 1.0 0.7 42.5 0.4

Solar CSP 0.8 0.8 N/A N/A
Coal 0.5 0.5 35.0 0.3
Natural Gas 0.23 0.18 13.8 0.1
(combined cycle)
Natural Gas Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible
(combustion turbine)
Solar PV Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible
Wind Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible

11/5/2020
[Source: Stillwell, 2011]
21
Fossil Fuels Extraction

11/5/2020 22
Coal requires water for extraction, processing,
and transport
• Collectively, a
small fraction
of US water
use
• Raises more
concern about
water quality,
especially for
storing waste
• Also major
impacts from
Mountain Top Image: Acid Mine Drainage near a coal mine (caused when water
flows over or through sulfur-bearing materials forming solutions
Removal of net acidity); Image Credit: NRDC

11/5/2020 23
Nationally, Oil & Gas Is Responsible for ~5% of total
US Water Withdrawals & ~2% of total US Water
Consumption
• ~1 million gallons per conventional well

(typically much more and varies for
unconventional)
• However, at the local scale, water use for
oil/gas can be large fraction of use
• Shale revolution puts pressure on
watersheds for new production AND
refining/chemicals
11/5/2020 24
Hydraulic Fracturing Is Water-Intensive
• Water Quantity Impacts: nationalgeographic.com
– US avg: 3-5 million gallons

per well (but can be much
higher)
– But a lot of HF is occurring in
regions of water stress
• Water Quality Impacts:
– Produced wastewater must
be handled
– Contamination?

11/5/2020 25
Hydraulic Fracturing Is Water-Intensive
nationalgeographic.com
11/5/2020 26
Water concerns of Hydraulic
Fracturing

11/5/2020 27
There are several potential modes of water
contamination during oil and gas
production
[Vengosh et al. 2014]

11/5/2020 28
In all, there are four documented risks to water
from hydraulic fracturing
1. the contamination of shallow aquifers with fugitive
hydrocarbon gases
2. the contamination of surface water and shallow
groundwater from spills, leaks, and/or the disposal of
inadequately treated shale gas wastewater
3. the accumulation of toxic and radioactive elements in
soil or stream sediments near disposal or spill sites;
and
4. the overextraction of water resources for high-volume
hydraulic fracturing that could induce water shortages
or conflicts with other water users, particularly in
water-scarce areas
• Direct contamination of shallow GW from HF fluids remains controversial
11/5/2020
[Vengosh et al. 2014] 29
57% of water used for hydraulic fracturing btw 2011-
2016 was in regions of high or extremely high water
stress (mostly US)
38% of the world's

shale resources face
high to extremely high
water stress or arid
conditions.

11/5/2020 30
Overall, Shale Oil and Gas (i.e. from fracking)
Has Relatively Low Water Consumption
• Volumetric Basis
– Conventional oil: 1-5 gal/gal
– Unconventional oil: 5-10 gal/gal
– Irrigated Corn: 500-2000 gal/gal
– Algae: 10,000-100,000 gal/gal
• Energetic Basis
– Shale Gas consumes 1.25 gal/MMBTU
– Corn Ethanol consumes >2,500 gal/MMBTU
[Source: various publications by Webber, et al.]

11/5/2020 31
Biofuels Are Very Water-Intensive
• Gasoline
– 0.15 Gallons H2O/ Mile
• E85
– 28 Gallons of H2O/ Mile
• Irrigated biofuels are
VERY water intensive
– 1000+ gal H2O/gal Ethanol

11/5/2020 32
The water intensity of biofuels varies from near
C. W. King and M. Webber, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2008, 42, 7866 - 7872. DOI
zero to > 110 gal/mile 10.1021/es800367m.

11/5/2020 33
Corn-starch based ethanol production also has
well-cited water quality implications…
↑ Corn production
↑ Fertilizer use
↑ Runoff/nutrient loading to
downstream water bodies
↑ Increased nitrate contamination in
water sources

11/5/2020 34
We Use Water For Transporting Energy

11/5/2020 35
Nearly Half of Global Oil Production Is Traded
Across Borders, Much of It By Water
Source: BP Statistical Review 2012

11/5/2020 36
Most Inland USA Water-Based Transportation Is In the
Mississippi River Basin
Barges are used
to move coal
along the
Mississippi River
Source:
U.S. DoT, FHWA

11/5/2020 37
Recap: Water for Energy…

11/5/2020 38
The energy system represents about 40% of total US water withdrawals. Once
through cooled power plants represent the majority of these water withdrawals.
Only a small fraction of water

withdrawals are consumed!

11/5/2020 39
The energy system represents about 10% of total US water consumption (the subset
of water withdrawals not returned to original location). Primary energy production
represents the majority of water consumed in the energy sector.

11/5/2020 40
We Use Energy for Water

11/5/2020 41
Freshwater Is A Small Part of the Total Supply

11/5/2020 42
Consequently, We Use Energy for Water
• Conveyance
• Treating
• Heating, pressurizing, chilling

11/5/2020 43
Energy is critical to water services; 13% of US energy
consumption is for heating + treating + moving water
Supply and Water Water
Water Source
conveyance Treatment Distribution
Residential,
Commercial,
Recycled Water Recycled Water
Industrial,
Treatment Distribution
Or Public End-
use
Wastewater Wastewater
Water Source Discharge
Treatment Collection
(Adapted from
CEC2005)

11/5/2020 44
Water/Wastewater Collection, Production,
Treatment and Distribution Requires Energy
Source/Treatment Type Energy [kWh/Mgal]
Surface Water 1,400
Groundwater 1,800
Water
Brackish Groundwater 3,900-9,750

Seawater 9,780-16,500
Trickling Filter 955
Wastewater
Activated Sludge 1,300
Advanced Treatment w/o Nitrification 1,500

Advanced Treatment w/ Nitrification 1,900

11/5/2020 [Source: Stillwell, 2011] 45
Wastewater Treatment Requires Energy
• Sanitation differentiates
– Healthy & wealthy = sanitation
– Sick and poor = no sanitation
• Reclaimed water
– Advanced treatment is less energy-
intensive than desalination
– “toilet to tap” (Singapore, ISS,…)

11/5/2020 46
Piped Water Systems
Were a National Policy
Priority in the US
• Required energy
for pumping and
heating
• Elevates people
out of poverty
• Improves public
health
• Liberates women
Source: Univ. of Missouri & U.S.
Department Of Agriculture, 1920

11/5/2020 47
The Toilet to Tap
campaign failed
years ago in
the USA

11/5/2020 Source: Stillwell 48
The Energy-Water Relationship Is Already
Under Strain

11/5/2020 49
The Energy-Water Relationship Is Already
Under Strain
• Water Constraints Become Energy

Constraints
• Energy Constraints Become Water
Constraints

11/5/2020 50
Water Constraints Become Energy Constraints
Heat Waves
Droughts Floods
Freezes
11/5/2020 51
Water Constraints Become Energy
Constraints
Source: NASA (2003)
Snapshot of the
record
heat wave in 2003
Total death toll in EU:

70,000 people

11/5/2020 52
Hydropower suffers with drought

11/5/2020 53
“Las Vegas Running Out of Water Means
Dimming Los Angeles Lights”
Worst 10-year drought in
recorded history
Hoover Dam provides electricity
to 750,000 people in LA
Bloomberg.com, 2/26/09
A white "bathtub ring" on canyon walls at Lake

Mead National Recreation Area in July shows
mineral deposits left by higher levels of water near
the Arizona Intake Towers at the Hoover Dam.
(Ethan Miller, Getty Images )
• “The surface of Lake Mead has dropped 100 feet in six years. If it drops 50 feet
lower, Las Vegas could lose an intake that supplies 40 percent of its water.
Simultaneously, "Hoover Dam stops generating electricity”
– Denver Post, 1/29/2008
11/5/2020 54
The Hoover Dam: 50 percent chance that water levels
could drop below the outlet pipes as early as 15 years from
now
reviewjournal.com

11/5/2020 55
Water constraints are affecting all US
regions

11/5/2020 56
CA drought is affecting the power grid in
multiple ways
• Drought is thwarting clean
energy goals
– 2014 CA hydropower to
represent ~10% of CA
generation, down from 20%
• Wildfires are damaging T&D
infrastructure
• An estimated 1,150 MW of
natural gas-fueled
generation might be
affected if the water supply
gets too low
• How will CWA 316B affect
the water needs of the grid?
11/5/2020 57
The 2012 Indian Blackout Affected 600 Million
People and Was Triggered Partly by Drought
1) Increased power demand from irrigation
2) Decreased power generation at dams

11/5/2020 58
Power plants aren’t the only energy producers
facing water scarcity…

11/5/2020 59
Drought Hurts the Ability to Ship Energy By
Inland Waterways
$7 billion of coal,
petroleum products,
fertilizer, and agriculture
products could not ship in
Jan and Feb 2013
because of low water

11/5/2020 60
Water Constraints Are Inhibiting Shale
Production
• 5/2013: New Mexico:
Mora County first
county to ban
fracking
• 2014: Denton, TX:
First TX city to ban
fracking with 59%
support
• 2014: NY State

11/5/2020 61
In 2014, Gov. Cuomo bans fracking in NY

11/5/2020 62
The energy and water relationship can be
disastrous
2008 Coal Ash Spill in TN Deepwater Horizon Spill
Lake Mead (behind Hoover Dam)

Fukushima
Kelly T. Sanders,Reactor
11/5/2020
Ph.D. #3
All images: New York Times
63
Energy Constraints Become Water
Constraints
• 768 million people do not have

access to clean water
• 2.5 billion people do not have
access to sanitation
The lack of access to clean water and sanitation is the second

biggest killer of children under five years old worldwide
(Leading cause of death in under-five children is pneumonia)
http://www.wateraid.org
11/5/2020 64
We move energy large distances, but
water resources are constrained locally
The Colorado “River” in Spicewood Beach, TX

Image: NYT

11/5/2020 65
Trends Imply That Strain in the Energy-Water
Relationship Will Be Exacerbated

11/5/2020 66
Trends Imply That Strain in the Energy-Water
Relationship Will Be Exacerbated
• Population growth
– drives up total demand for energy & water
• Economic growth
– drives up per capita demand for energy & water
• might be counteracted by efficiency
• Climate change: distorted rainfall, snowmelt,
etc.
• Policy choices
– movement towards energy-intensive water and
water-intensive energy
11/5/2020 67
Global Population Is Expected to Grow At
Least Until 2040
U.S. Population to grow another 140 million by 2050

11/5/2020 68
Economic Growth Drives Increases in Per
Capita Demand for Water
• Affluent people eat more meat (which

leads to water consumption)
• Affluent people consume more
electricity (which uses water)

11/5/2020 69
Demand for Water Has Grown Faster Than
Population
• Over last 300 years, water withdrawals have
risen 40x
• Over last 70 years, global population has
tripled
– water use has gone up six-fold
• These trends are primarily driven by a
combination of population growth and
economic growth
Source: Gleick 1993 & Boberg 2005

11/5/2020 70
We Are Moving Towards More Water-intensive
Energy (Especially For Transportation Fuels)
• Unconventional fossil fuels (2-4x worse)
• Natural Gas (better to 1-2x worse)
• Electricity (better to 2-3x worse)
– Good with wind/solar PV, worse with nuclear
• Hydrogen (1-500x worse)
– Good with wind/solar PV, worse with nuclear
• Biofuels (1-1000x worse)

11/5/2020 [Source: King & Webber, 2009]
71
The Story Is Mixed for Water Intensity Trends of
the Power Sector
• More Water Intensive
– Nuclear
– Solar CSP
• Less Water Intensive
– Natural Gas Combined Cycle
– Wind
– Solar PV

11/5/2020 72
We Are Moving Towards More Energy-
Intensive Water
• Stricter water/wastewater treatment
standards
• Deep aquifer production
• Desalination
– Worldwide capacity to double by 2025
– Middle East, London, San Diego, TX
• Long-haul pipelines and inter-basin
transfer
– China, India, Texas
• Desalination plus long-haul transfer

11/5/2020 73
There Are Policy Solutions

11/5/2020 74
There Are Energy/Water Policy Tools Available
• Collect better water data
– IEA/EIA for energy data, who for water data?
• Conduct integrated policymaking
• Better siting of energy resources to align
with water resources and vice-versa
• Standards setting
– Clean Energy standards could combine
emissions and water consumption

11/5/2020 75
R&D Investments Are Valuable Policy Levers
• Energy R&D to save water (but be aware of
tradeoffs)
– Bioenergy R&D on low-water feedstocks (algae,
cellulosics, fungus, etc.)
– Dry cooling systems at power plants
– Waterless fracking techniques
– Water re-use for energy production
• Water R&D to save energy:
– Better membranes for water treatment
– Greywater and purple water infrastructure
– Water re-use, distributed water harvesting…

11/5/2020 76
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave the
USA two great technical challenges
Source: Web
April 1961
May 1961
“If we could ever competitively—at a
“No single space project in this cheap rate—get fresh water from
period will be more impressive to salt water, that would be in the long-
mankind, or more important for the range interest of humanity and
long-range exploration of space; and would really dwarf any other
none will be so difficult or expensive scientific accomplishment.”
to accomplish."

11/5/2020 77
By 1969, we put a man on the moon…

11/5/2020 Source: Web
78
If we spent as much effort and money
looking for water on earth as we do
looking for water on the moon and mars,
the outcomes might be very different!

11/5/2020 79
Kelly T. Sanders
Assistant Professor
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering
ktsanders@usc.edu

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The Energy-Water Nexus

National Geographic 3/2008

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

• Energy affects water quality (good and bad)

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

(Billions of Gallons per Day)

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

[Image source: Union of Concerned Scientists]

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Image courtesy of Treehugger.com

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Nuclear 1.0 0.7 42.5 0.4

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

• ~1 million gallons per conventional well

– US avg: 3-5 million gallons

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

[Vengosh et al. 2014]

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

38% of the world's

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

[Source: various publications by Webber, et al.]

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Only a small fraction of water

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Brackish Groundwater 3,900-9,750

Activated Sludge 1,300

Advanced Treatment w/o Nitrification 1,500

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

• Water Constraints Become Energy

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Source: NASA (2003)

Total death toll in EU:

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

Kelly T. Sanders, Ph.D.

A white "bathtub ring" on canyon walls at Lake