One cannot ignore these undeniably disturbing facts about energy & water:
- 90% of energy production is water intense
- By 2035, global energy consumption will increase by 50%, increasing water consumption by 85%
- But still, today 2.8 bn people live in the areas of high water scarcity
- And 2.5 bn people have unreliable and no access to electricity
(source: IEA 2012, and UN 2012)
Don’t the facts create goosebumps already? Climate change will impact both the energy and water sectors if the demand and supply of these natural resources are not addressed with utmost sincerity. The numbers about the nature reserves have been increasingly distressing in themselves. The evidence lies in the complaints that we raise about the weather, floods, incessant rains, and cyclones worldwide.
The state has already declared an emergency and we are all together on this battlefield to preserve what we started to neglect and over consume in the first place. Is there an option to undo what we did for selfish reasons? Is it only the end consumer who’s responsible for the replenishment? The answer is within the questions.
What we began to overuse can be given back to nature, to this planet. Every individual has an equal stake in neglecting the over-usage. Whether it’s an end consumer or the water & energy company, providers.
Energy and water are intricately connected with each other. In producing a massive amount of electricity, billions of cubic meters of water are required. With the high risks that the energy sector is now exposed to, the importance of including water in its strategic plan is more essential than ever before.
Hence, some of the largest energy companies in the world are working collaboratively with regulators, government bodies, and other technology companies to find innovative ways to support the energy transition. Some of the key initiatives that companies are taking involve:
- Management of severe weather conditions in order to act proactively with the help of San Diego Gas & Electric, a Sempra Energy utility’s drones and AI-enabled software.
- Improving resiliency by anticipating weather with the help of the installation of smart meters and intelligent devices.
- Reliance on cleaner energy substitutes like LNG to decarbonise for better sustainability.
- Researching alternative modes of energy resources that do not require a water harness.
As stated by the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report lists the‘ water crisis’ is one of the top five global risks since 2012. Companies in the private sector along with the support of academia, government bodies and regulators have also engaged themselves in water security.
- Smarter Homes, for example, is a company that produces the WaterOn device, which is a smart metering and automated leakage prevention system.
- The World Bank partnered with Drinkwell to install Water ATM booths to provide safe drinking water.
- Wonderkid offers a mobile management platform so utilities can improve their customer care and billing services.
- Ignitia is a company that uses machine learning and remote sensing to send text messages to small-scale farmers with hyper-local information on climates and weather forecasts.
Today, technology innovations followed by extensive research for a sustainable future are the only key to getting going and saving every drop of water, every acre of forest, every joule of energy, etc. If we want to ensure three strategic objectives: sustainability, meeting basic needs and taking into account long-term forces that are shaping the environment. Technology beholds the critical element that can support intuitively, and fill the missing gaps through automation.
ratnanjalisingh 