期刊
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
卷 68, 期 4, 页码 1052-1060出版社
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.07.013
关键词
Sustainability; Energy; Fresh water; Biomass; Bio-energy; Natural resource use; Water footprint
This paper assesses the water footprint (WF) of different primary energy carriers derived from biomass expressed as the amount of water consumed to produce a unit of energy (m(3)/GJ). The paper observes large differences among the WFs for specific types of primary bio-energy carriers. The WF depends on crop type, agricultural production system and climate. The WF of average bio-energy carriers grown in the Netherlands is 24 m(3)/GJ, in the US 58 m(3)/GJ, in Brazil 61 m(3)/GJ, and in Zimbabwe 143 m(3)/GJ. The WF of bio-energy is much larger than the WF of fossil energy. For the fossil energy carriers, the WF increases in the following order: uranium (0.1 m(3)/GJ), natural gas (0.1 m(3)/GJ), coal (0.2 m(3)/GJ), and finally crude oil (1.1 m(3)/GJ). Renewable energy carriers show large differences in their WF. The WF for wind energy is negligible, for solar thermal energy 0.3 m(3)/GJ, but for hydropower 22 m(3)/GJ. Based on the average per capita energy use in western societies (100 GJ/capita/year), a mix from coal, crude oil, natural gas and uranium requires about 35 m(3)/capita/year. If the same amount of energy is generated through the growth of biomass in a high productive agricultural system, as applied in the Netherlands, the WF is 2420 m(3). The WF of biomass is 70 to 400 times larger than the WF of the other primary energy carriers (excluding hydropower). The trend towards larger energy use in combination with an increasing contribution of energy from biomass will enlarge the need for fresh water. This causes competition with other claims, such as water for food. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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