期刊
SUSTAINABILITY
卷 5, 期 11, 页码 4674-4687出版社
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/su5114674
关键词
water footprint; energy policy; renewable energy; sustainable development; water-energy nexus
With energy security, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development as three main motives, global energy policies have evolved, now asking for higher shares of renewable energies, shale oil and gas resources in the global energy supply portfolios. Yet, concerns have recently been raised about the environmental impacts of the renewable energy development, supported by many governments around the world. For example, governmental ethanol subsidies and mandates in the U. S. are aimed to increase the biofuel supply while the water footprint of this type of energy might be 70-400 times higher than the water footprint of conventional fossil energy sources. Hydrofracking, as another example, has been recognized as a high water-intensive procedure that impacts the surface and ground water in both quality and quantity. Hence, monitoring the water footprint of the energy mix is significantly important and could have implications for energy policy development. This paper estimates the water footprint of current and projected global energy policies, based on the energy production and consumption scenarios, developed by the International Energy Outlook of the U. S. Energy Information Administration. The outcomes reveal the amount of water required for total energy production in the world will increase by 37%-66% during the next two decades, requiring extensive improvements in water use efficiency of the existing energy production technologies, especially renewables.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据