National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×

img

ADDRESSING THE

ENERGY-WATER NEXUS

ROUNDTABLE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM

BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD

img

2013-2014
MEETINGS IN BRIEF

img

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×

Preface

Adequate water and energy are critical to the continued economic security of the United States. The relationship between energy and water is complex, and the scientific community is increasingly recognizing the importance of better understanding the linkages between these two resource domains. Federal agencies, the private sector, and academic researchers have noted that the lack of data on energy-water linkages remains a key limitation to fully characterizing the scope of this issue.

In an effort to bridge these resource domains, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources introduced bipartisan legislation, titled the Nexus of Energy and Water for Sustainability (NEWS) Act of 2014 (S. 1971), to coordinate and streamline federal activities related to the management of the energy-water nexus. The Senate Committee noted that “all forms of energy production require water and that our use of water requires energy. Together, energy and water resources are the foundation of our nation’s economy and are essential to our nation’s future and international security.”1

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS Roundtable), in collaboration with the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) and the Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB), contributed to the emerging dialogue on the energy-water nexus by holding four related meetings in June and December 2013, and May and December 2014. These meetings were designed to examine emerging technical and policy mechanisms to address energy-water issues, including:

  • Discussing a strategy for addressing the energy-water nexus in various sectors;
  • Identifying data and research needs for addressing energy-water linkages, including ways
  • to leverage ongoing data collection and dissemination efforts;
  • Refining mechanisms for encouraging partnerships among key players in all sectors and furthering technological innovation to advance the field; and
  • Examining linkages beyond those of energy and water, to include land use, transportation and technology.

The purpose of the meetings was to provide a national forum for identification of core energy-water nexus issues, to encourage the application of broader sustainability frameworks in thinking about these two inter-related resource domains, and to stimulate new initiatives to meet energy-water nexus challenges in a sustainable manner.

The first event, held in June 2013, provided a broad overview of the energy-water nexus, including examining key data and partnership needs for addressing energy-water issues. This meeting was developed in coordination with staff from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, who were actively involved in engaging foundations to call attention to the issue and to gain their perspective on how to move forward. Over 60 participants attended the event, including nearly a dozen foundations, representatives from 13 federal agencies, and numerous private sector entities, including Siemens, IBM, and Dow Chemical Company.

The December 2013 meeting delved more deeply, focusing on energy-water nexus issues associated with electric power production. Specifically, the meeting addressed how changing water conditions have affected the operations of thermoelectric power plants and the role of research on new water-saving technologies for power plants.

The STS Roundtable held two additional meetings on particular energy-water nexus issues in 2014. The May 2014 meeting focused on the role of technological innovation in addressing energy-water nexus challenges. Panels of experts examined research needs for optimizing current technologies, existing barriers, emerging technology innovations,

__________________

1 The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 2014. Wyden, Murkowski Introduce Legislation on the Energy and Water Nexus. Online. Available at: http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2014/1/wyden-murkowski-introduce-legislation-on-the-energy-and-water-nexus. Accessed April 22, 2015.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×

and approaches for advancing the integrative field of the energy-water nexus to best address key challenges. A one-page infographic was created to highlight some of the issues discussed at first three meetings.

The fourth and final meeting in December 2014 examined improved data for water use, decision support tools, and frameworks for local and regional decision making. The panel discussions built on progress made at the three prior meetings, as well as a 2013 workshop at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) workshop on the energy-water-land nexus2 and a 2013 National Science Foundation workshop on developing a research agenda for the energy-water nexus.3

This volume compiles the Meetings in Brief for the four events:

  • Sustainable Energy and Materials: Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus (June 6, 2013)
  • Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: Power Plants and Partnerships (December 5, 2013)
  • Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus through Technological Innovation (May 20, 2014)
  • Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: Need for Improved Data and Decision Support Tools (December 10, 2014).

A Meeting in Brief provides a short synopsis of the presentations and discussions at a public meeting or workshop that can be produced quickly and inexpensively after the event. Written by an individual rapporteur, it is a reasonably accurate and objective summary of what occurred at the meeting. It does not contain findings or recommendations, and all opinions are attributed to individual or small groups of participants. A Meeting in Brief is subject to external review by experts other than its authors prior to release to the public, helping to make it as accurate and effective as possible. The committee’s role is limited to planning and hosting the meetings. The statements in the documents are those of the authors or individual meeting participants and do not necessarily represent the views of all meeting participants, the planning committee, the STS Roundtable, or the Academies. Each Meeting in Brief was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the Academies Report Review Committee. This project was made possible with support from the Academies’ George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability. We want to express our thanks and appreciation to our Roundtable co-chairs, Thomas Graedel, Yale University (through June 2014), Ann Bartuska, U.S. Department of Agriculture (through December 2013), and Lynn Scarlett, The Nature Conservancy (from August 2014), for the time and effort they put into planning these meetings. We also thank James Zucchetto of BEES and Jeffrey Jacobs of WSTB for their collaborative support with these activities.

img

Paulo Ferrão, Chair (2013)

David Dzombak, Chair (2014)

Planning Committee on Addressing

the Energy-Water Nexus

__________________

2http://mitei.mit.edu/publications/reports-studies/mit-csis-energy-water-land-nexus-workshop

3http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/WorkshopReportDevelopingaResearchAgendafortheEnergy-waterNexus#HWorkshopReport%3ADevelopingaResearchAgendafortheEnergy%2DWaterNexus

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×

img

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21849.
×
Page R8
Next: Sustainable Energy and Materials: Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus June 6, 2013 »
Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: 2013-2014 Meetings in Brief Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Adequate water and energy are critical to the continued economic security of the United States. The relationship between energy and water is complex, and the scientific community is increasingly recognizing the importance of better understanding the linkages between these two resource domains. Federal agencies, the private sector, and academic researchers have noted that the lack of data on energy-water linkages remains a key limitation to fully characterizing the scope of this issue.

Beginning in June 2013, the Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability in collaboration with the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems and the Water Science and Technology Board contributed to the emerging dialogue on the energy-water nexus by holding four related meetings. These meetings were designed to examine emerging technical and policy mechanisms to address energy-water issues. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from these meetings.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!