The interdependency among water, food, and energy (WEF) in the GCC countries is strongly and closely interlinked, and is intensifying as demand for resources increases with population growth and changing consumption p...The interdependency among water, food, and energy (WEF) in the GCC countries is strongly and closely interlinked, and is intensifying as demand for resources increases with population growth and changing consumption patterns, and are expected to be further compounded by the impacts of climate change. Therefore, integrated management of the three sectors is crucial to reduce trade-offs and build synergies among them. This paper presents a comprehensive framework to assess the WEF nexus in Kuwait as a representative case for the GCC countries. The framework consists of three main steps: 1) evaluating the influence of socio-economic development and climate change on water, energy, and food resources;2) generating scenario-based projections;and 3) conducting an extensive quantitative nexus analysis. The WEF interlinkages in Kuwait are modelled quantitatively using the Q-Nexus model, and current critical interdependencies are evaluated. Then, various WEF-Nexus scenarios were conducted for the year 2035 to explore the effects of management interventions in one sector on the other two sectors. The main findings are that per capita municipal water consumption is a major influencer on the WEF-nexus due to the heavy reliance on thermal desalination in municipal water supply in Kuwait, which is attributed to its energy intensity, financial cost, GHGs emissions, and environmental impacts on the marine and air environments. To reduce WEF trade-offs, mitigate risks, and build synergies among the three sectors, it is important to shift the current policy focus on supply-side management approach to the demand-side management and efficiency approaches.展开更多
The GCC countries have been experiencing an accelerated socio-economic development process since the 1970s,resulting in rapid demographic and urbanization growth and associated with rapidly increasing municipal water ...The GCC countries have been experiencing an accelerated socio-economic development process since the 1970s,resulting in rapid demographic and urbanization growth and associated with rapidly increasing municipal water demands.To meet these demands’quantity and quality,the GCC countries resorted to desalination.Currently,the GCC countries collectively possess the largest desalination capacity in the world(~45%),and based on the current urbanization trends,it is expected that current rates in desalination capacity growth will continue in the future.However,desalination has a number of environmental externalities on the marine,and their severity will depend on various factors(i.e.,site-specific).The objective of the present study is to investigate the impacts of the brine water discharged by Al-Dur RO desalination plant on the coastal infauna benthic species composition in the east coast of Bahrain.Sediment samples were collected from 10 locations selected at different distances from the discharge outlet.The species composition of infauna was investigated using univariate analysis and multivariate analysis.The results showed an extreme elevation in temperature(>38℃)and hypersaline waters(>55‰)at locations nearby the discharge outlet,and also at bottom waters of depths more than 3 m during the high and low tide cycles in both seasons with exceptional levels in summer.Four main groups of benthic infauna identified are represented by Polychaeta(12 taxa),Bivalves(4 taxa),Gastropod(2 taxa),and Amphipod(3 taxa)including 256 specimens.The univariate analysis indicated spatial variations in infauna species composition where the lower diversity indices were found at locations close to the discharge outlet and at Station 5 where noticeable vertical differences were observed indicating exceptional elevation of hypersaline waters with lesser extent of temperature at bottom layer.However,the highest species diversity indices characterized the most offshore stations.The infauna species composition found to be related to the water quality particularly salinity in the outlet vicinity rather than the bottom texture.Polychaeta could be considered as the most useful bio-indicator to reveal any contamination from desalination brine discharge,due to their sensitivity and their capability to adopt to any environmental alteration.展开更多
When it comes to water and energy, it is hard to obtain one without the other. Water is required to produce energy and energy is necessary in water production and management. As demands for water are escalating due to...When it comes to water and energy, it is hard to obtain one without the other. Water is required to produce energy and energy is necessary in water production and management. As demands for water are escalating due to rapid population growth and urbanization, understanding and quantification of the interdependency between water and energy, along with analyzing nexus interactions, trade-offs and risks are a pre-requisite for effective and integrated planning and management of these two key sectors. This paper performs an assessment of the water-energy nexus in the municipal sector of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where the electric energy footprint in the water value chain (groundwater, desalination and wastewater treatment) and the water footprint in electric energy generation (thermal power plants) are quantified using data for the year 2013. The results confirmed the high and strong dependency on energy for the municipal water cycle in the Eastern Province and revealed that energy generation dependency on freshwater resources is also major and evident, especially at farther distances from the coastal areas. Thermal desalination is by far the most energy intensive stage among the entire Eastern Province water cycle. In 2013, it was estimated 13% of the Eastern Province energy generation capacity goes for desalination, that’s a 5% of the Kingdom capacity. Substantial energy input for desalination in the Eastern Province is attributed to the production and conveyance of water to the Capital Riyadh (48.9 kWh/m3 and 4.2 kWh/m3 respectively). As for groundwater pumping, it was estimated that 206.2 GWH was used for pumping 268 MCM in 2013 (0.764 kWh/m3). Energy requirement for primary, secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment was found to be the least (2 - 108 GWH) and was equivalent to an average of 0.4 kWh/m3. The water footprint in electricity generation was estimated to be about 739,308 m3 in 2013 (0.125 m3/kWh), a relatively higher value compared to the norm of gas combustion turbine cooling water requirement around the world, and is especially significant for water scarce Kingdom. Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission was computed to be around 17 Million Ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) for the entire water supply chain, with desalination having the highest carbon footprint in the whole water cycle (16.9 MT of CO2e). Carbon emissions from electric energy generation through power plants had significantly exceeded the entire water supply chain’s carbon footprint. Alternative mitigation options of management and technology fixes are suggested to reduce energy consumption in the water cycle, minimize the water footprint in electric generation, and mitigate associated GHG emission.展开更多
Water-energy nexus is an emerging issue that receives considerable attention in the world in general and in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in particular. The GCC countries depend mainly on energy generat...Water-energy nexus is an emerging issue that receives considerable attention in the world in general and in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in particular. The GCC countries depend mainly on energy generated from fossil fuels to produce drinking water. Yet, the amount of water-related energy use in Bahrain remains unexplored. This study aims to quantify the amount of energy used in the water supply cycle for the first time in Bahrain using quantitative methods. A bottom-up approach for data collection was adopted where data for the three main stages of the water supply in Bahrain: water production, water transmission, and water distribution were collected. Results show that the water production stage consumes about 97% of the total energy consumption in the water supply sector, followed by water transmission (2.9%) and water distribution (0.1%). Comparisons conducted with best practices in the world show that water desalination plants in Bahrain consume relatively high amounts of energy to produce water based on the desalination technology used. This study calls for focusing on the production stage in achieving energy efficiency since it is the largest consumer and where losses are occurring based on the benchmarking. This study also recommends investigating the share of electricity and thermal energy consumed in the water supply cycle in Bahrain in addition to the wastewater treatment sector. This is imperative to provide a holistic overview of the water-related energy use in Bahrain.展开更多
文摘The interdependency among water, food, and energy (WEF) in the GCC countries is strongly and closely interlinked, and is intensifying as demand for resources increases with population growth and changing consumption patterns, and are expected to be further compounded by the impacts of climate change. Therefore, integrated management of the three sectors is crucial to reduce trade-offs and build synergies among them. This paper presents a comprehensive framework to assess the WEF nexus in Kuwait as a representative case for the GCC countries. The framework consists of three main steps: 1) evaluating the influence of socio-economic development and climate change on water, energy, and food resources;2) generating scenario-based projections;and 3) conducting an extensive quantitative nexus analysis. The WEF interlinkages in Kuwait are modelled quantitatively using the Q-Nexus model, and current critical interdependencies are evaluated. Then, various WEF-Nexus scenarios were conducted for the year 2035 to explore the effects of management interventions in one sector on the other two sectors. The main findings are that per capita municipal water consumption is a major influencer on the WEF-nexus due to the heavy reliance on thermal desalination in municipal water supply in Kuwait, which is attributed to its energy intensity, financial cost, GHGs emissions, and environmental impacts on the marine and air environments. To reduce WEF trade-offs, mitigate risks, and build synergies among the three sectors, it is important to shift the current policy focus on supply-side management approach to the demand-side management and efficiency approaches.
文摘The GCC countries have been experiencing an accelerated socio-economic development process since the 1970s,resulting in rapid demographic and urbanization growth and associated with rapidly increasing municipal water demands.To meet these demands’quantity and quality,the GCC countries resorted to desalination.Currently,the GCC countries collectively possess the largest desalination capacity in the world(~45%),and based on the current urbanization trends,it is expected that current rates in desalination capacity growth will continue in the future.However,desalination has a number of environmental externalities on the marine,and their severity will depend on various factors(i.e.,site-specific).The objective of the present study is to investigate the impacts of the brine water discharged by Al-Dur RO desalination plant on the coastal infauna benthic species composition in the east coast of Bahrain.Sediment samples were collected from 10 locations selected at different distances from the discharge outlet.The species composition of infauna was investigated using univariate analysis and multivariate analysis.The results showed an extreme elevation in temperature(>38℃)and hypersaline waters(>55‰)at locations nearby the discharge outlet,and also at bottom waters of depths more than 3 m during the high and low tide cycles in both seasons with exceptional levels in summer.Four main groups of benthic infauna identified are represented by Polychaeta(12 taxa),Bivalves(4 taxa),Gastropod(2 taxa),and Amphipod(3 taxa)including 256 specimens.The univariate analysis indicated spatial variations in infauna species composition where the lower diversity indices were found at locations close to the discharge outlet and at Station 5 where noticeable vertical differences were observed indicating exceptional elevation of hypersaline waters with lesser extent of temperature at bottom layer.However,the highest species diversity indices characterized the most offshore stations.The infauna species composition found to be related to the water quality particularly salinity in the outlet vicinity rather than the bottom texture.Polychaeta could be considered as the most useful bio-indicator to reveal any contamination from desalination brine discharge,due to their sensitivity and their capability to adopt to any environmental alteration.
文摘When it comes to water and energy, it is hard to obtain one without the other. Water is required to produce energy and energy is necessary in water production and management. As demands for water are escalating due to rapid population growth and urbanization, understanding and quantification of the interdependency between water and energy, along with analyzing nexus interactions, trade-offs and risks are a pre-requisite for effective and integrated planning and management of these two key sectors. This paper performs an assessment of the water-energy nexus in the municipal sector of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where the electric energy footprint in the water value chain (groundwater, desalination and wastewater treatment) and the water footprint in electric energy generation (thermal power plants) are quantified using data for the year 2013. The results confirmed the high and strong dependency on energy for the municipal water cycle in the Eastern Province and revealed that energy generation dependency on freshwater resources is also major and evident, especially at farther distances from the coastal areas. Thermal desalination is by far the most energy intensive stage among the entire Eastern Province water cycle. In 2013, it was estimated 13% of the Eastern Province energy generation capacity goes for desalination, that’s a 5% of the Kingdom capacity. Substantial energy input for desalination in the Eastern Province is attributed to the production and conveyance of water to the Capital Riyadh (48.9 kWh/m3 and 4.2 kWh/m3 respectively). As for groundwater pumping, it was estimated that 206.2 GWH was used for pumping 268 MCM in 2013 (0.764 kWh/m3). Energy requirement for primary, secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment was found to be the least (2 - 108 GWH) and was equivalent to an average of 0.4 kWh/m3. The water footprint in electricity generation was estimated to be about 739,308 m3 in 2013 (0.125 m3/kWh), a relatively higher value compared to the norm of gas combustion turbine cooling water requirement around the world, and is especially significant for water scarce Kingdom. Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission was computed to be around 17 Million Ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) for the entire water supply chain, with desalination having the highest carbon footprint in the whole water cycle (16.9 MT of CO2e). Carbon emissions from electric energy generation through power plants had significantly exceeded the entire water supply chain’s carbon footprint. Alternative mitigation options of management and technology fixes are suggested to reduce energy consumption in the water cycle, minimize the water footprint in electric generation, and mitigate associated GHG emission.
文摘Water-energy nexus is an emerging issue that receives considerable attention in the world in general and in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in particular. The GCC countries depend mainly on energy generated from fossil fuels to produce drinking water. Yet, the amount of water-related energy use in Bahrain remains unexplored. This study aims to quantify the amount of energy used in the water supply cycle for the first time in Bahrain using quantitative methods. A bottom-up approach for data collection was adopted where data for the three main stages of the water supply in Bahrain: water production, water transmission, and water distribution were collected. Results show that the water production stage consumes about 97% of the total energy consumption in the water supply sector, followed by water transmission (2.9%) and water distribution (0.1%). Comparisons conducted with best practices in the world show that water desalination plants in Bahrain consume relatively high amounts of energy to produce water based on the desalination technology used. This study calls for focusing on the production stage in achieving energy efficiency since it is the largest consumer and where losses are occurring based on the benchmarking. This study also recommends investigating the share of electricity and thermal energy consumed in the water supply cycle in Bahrain in addition to the wastewater treatment sector. This is imperative to provide a holistic overview of the water-related energy use in Bahrain.
