(658c) Water Management within Energy Systems

Energy sources, including fossil fuels and renewable energy sources, have supported and will continue to support human prosperity across the globe. The International Energy Agency (IEA) systematically assesses and presents three different scenarios, i.e. New Policies, Current Policies, and 450 scenarios, to forecast global energy demand by 2040. The 450 scenario refers to an energy pathway that curbs greenhouse gas emissions so that their atmospheric concentration do not exceeds 450 parts per million of CO₂ in order to keep global warming below 2°C. Indeed, according to the projections of the IEA, in the Current Policy, New Policy, and 450 scenarios, world primary energy demand is expected to growth by 45%, 32%, and 12% from 2013 to 2040, respectively. Likewise, global electricity demand is projected to increase over the same time period by 86%, 71%, and 49%, for the same three scenarios, respectively [1]. However, the development of energy sources relies on water, which is subject to physical limitations and government regulations that can and do constraint its availability and accessibility.

This paper presents a broad and comprehensive summary of the relevance and effectiveness of decision-support tools to help in the water management associated with the development of energy sources as well as with the design, planning, and operation of energy systems. We provide a discussion of water intensity of energy sources and systems in addition to the application of decision-support tools for the corresponding water management. Specifically, we first present a global context of the water-energy nexus in term of national/regional energy demand and spatial distribution of water risk and stress level. Then, we review data on the water intensity of different primary energy sources and power generation technologies. Subsequently, decision elements associated with the water management in energy systems are outlined. A shale gas supply chain design and planning model [2–4] is used to investigate the impact of water availability on the optimal water management strategy and the economics associated with the exploitation of shale gas resources. Finally, needed advances and continuing challenges in water management related to energy systems are identified.

References

[1] International Energy Agency. World Energy Outlook 2015. 2015. doi:10.1787/weo-2015-en.

[2] Calderón AJ, Guerra OJ, Papageorgiou LG, Siirola JJ, Reklaitis G V. Preliminary Evaluation of Shale Gas Reservoirs: Appraisal of Different Well-Pad Designs via Performance Metrics. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2015;54:10334–49. doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.5b01590.

[3] Guerra OJ, Calderón AJ, Papageorgiou LG, Siirola JJ, Reklaitis G V. An optimization framework for the integration of water management and shale gas supply chain design. Computers & Chemical Engineering 2016;92:230–55. doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2016.03.025.

[4] Guerra OJ, Calderón AJ, Papageorgiou LG, Reklaitis G V. Strategic Design and Tactical Planning for Energy Supply Chain Systems. Advances in Energy Systems Engineering, vol. 50, Springer International Publishing; 2017, p. 47–74. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-42803-1_3.