scholarly journals Water consumption from hydropower plants – review of published estimates and an assessment of the concept

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 3983-4000 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Bakken ◽  
Å. Killingtveit ◽  
K. Engeland ◽  
K. Alfredsen ◽  
A. Harby
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Calculation Method ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Power Production ◽  
High Water ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Simplified Approach ◽  
Natural Lakes ◽  
Hydropower Plants ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Since the report from IPCC on renewable energy (IPCC, 2012) was published; more studies on water consumption from hydropower have become available. The newly published studies do not, however, contribute to a more consistent picture on what the "true" water consumption from hydropower plants is. The dominant calculation method is the gross evaporation from the reservoirs divided by the annual power production, which appears to be an over-simplistic calculation method that possibly produces a biased picture of the water consumption of hydropower plants. This review paper shows that the water footprint of hydropower is used synonymously with water consumption, based on gross evaporation rates. This paper also documents and discusses several methodological problems when applying this simplified approach (gross evaporation divided by annual power production) for the estimation of water consumption from hydropower projects. A number of short-comings are identified, including the lack of clarity regarding the setting of proper system boundaries in space and time. The methodology of attributing the water losses to the various uses in multi-purpose reservoirs is not developed. Furthermore, a correct and fair methodology for handling water consumption in reservoirs based on natural lakes is needed, as it appears meaningless that all the evaporation losses from a close-to-natural lake should be attributed to the hydropower production. It also appears problematic that the concept is not related to the impact the water consumption will have on the local water resources, as high water consumption values might not be problematic per se. Finally, it appears to be a paradox that a reservoir might be accorded a very high water consumption/footprint and still be the most feasible measure to improve the availability of water in a region. We argue that reservoirs are not always the problem; rather they may contribute to the solution of the problems of water scarcity. The authors consider that an improved conceptual framework is needed in order to calculate the water footprint from hydropower projects in a more reasonable way.

scholarly journals Water consumption from hydropower plants – review of published estimates and an assessment of the concept

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 8071-8115 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Bakken ◽  
Å. Killingtveit ◽  
K. Engeland ◽  
K. Alfredsen ◽  
A. Harby
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Calculation Method ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Power Production ◽  
High Water ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Simplified Approach ◽  
Natural Lakes ◽  
Hydropower Plants ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Since the report from IPCC on renewable energy (IPCC, 2012) was published; more studies on water consumption from hydropower have become available. The newly published studies do not, however, contribute to a more consistent picture on what the "true" water consumption from hydropower plants is. The dominant calculation method is the gross evaporation from the reservoirs divided by the annual power production, which appears to be an over-simplistic calculation method that possibly produces a biased picture of the water consumption of hydropower plants. This review paper shows that the water footprint of hydropower is used synonymously to water consumption, based on gross evaporation rates. This paper also documents and discusses several methodological problems when applying this simplified approach (gross evaporation divided by annual power production) for the estimation of water consumption from hydropower projects. A number of short-comings are identified, including the lack of clarity regarding the setting of proper system boundaries in space and time. The methodology of attributing the water losses to the various uses in multi-purpose reservoirs is not developed. Furthermore, a correct and fair methodology for handling water consumption in reservoirs based on natural lakes is needed, as it appears meaningless that all the evaporation losses from a close to natural lake should be attributed to the hydropower production. It also appears problematic that the concept is not related to the impact the water consumption will have on the local water resources, as high water consumption values might not be problematic per se. Finally, it appears to be a paradox that a reservoir might be accorded a very high water consumption/footprint and still be the most feasible measure to improve the availability of water in a region. We argue that reservoirs are not always the problem; rather they may contribute to the solution of the problems of water scarcity. The authors consider that an improved conceptual framework is needed in order to calculate the water footprint from hydropower projects in a more reasonable way.

Agricultural infrastructure: the forgotten key driving force on crop-related water footprints and virtual water flows in developing countries: a case for China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongrong Huang ◽  
La Zhuo ◽  
Pute Wu
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
High Water ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Water Flows

<p>Agricultural infrastructure plays important roles in boosting food production and trade system in developing countries, while as being a ‘grey solutions’, generates increasingly risks on the environmental sustainability. There is little information on impacts of agricultural infrastructure developments on water consumption and flows, (i.e. water footprint and virtual water flows) related to crop production, consumption and trade especially in developing countries with high water risk. Here we, taking mainland China over 2000-2017 as the study case, identified and evaluated the strengths and spatial heterogeneities in main socio-economic driving factors of provincial water footprints and inter-provincial virtual water flows related to three staple crops (rice, wheat and maize). For the first time, we consider irrigation (II), electricity (EI) and road infrastructures (RI) in the driving factor analysis through the extended STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology) model. Results show that the II, EI and RI in China were expanded by 33.8 times, 4.5 times and 2.4 times, respectively by year 2017 compared to 2000. Although the II was the most critical driver to effectively reduce the per unit water footprint, especially the blue water footprint in crop production (i.e., increasing water efficiency), the developments of II led to the bigger total water consumption. Such phenomenon was observed in Jing-Jin region, North Coast and Northwest China with water resource shortage. The EI and RI had increasing effects on provincial virtual water export, and the corresponding driving strengths varied across spaces. Obviously, the visible effects from the agricultural infrastructures on regional water consumption, water productivity and virtual water patterns cannot be neglected. </p>

The Use of Dishwashers in Commercial Enterprises – An Initial Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-186
Author(s):  
Svenja Kerschgens ◽  
Britta von Esmarch-Rummler ◽  
Rainer Stamminger
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
High Water ◽  
User Behaviour ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Initial Analysis ◽  
Comprehensive Data ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The requirements for commercial dishwashers differ fundamentally from those for domestic dishwashers. For commercial dishwashers, capacity and programme duration are the main factors. Accordingly, different designs are offered for the different types of requirement. Comprehensive data on the usage behaviour of commercial dishwashers is scarcely available. Within the framework of face-to-face interviews, 200 companies in Germany and Denmark were visited to record their user behaviour. With the help of the data obtained, not only errors in the usage behaviour were found, but also indications of unnecessarily high water and energy consumption, which, inter alia, lead to increased costs for the companies. The results show that manual pre-rinsing in particular leads to increased water consumption. Furthermore, the dishwashers are only partially loaded, which leads to more wash cycles than necessary. In order to ensure the optimal utilisation and correct user behaviour of commercial dishwashers, while simultaneously reducing the impact on the environment, there is an urgent need to educate users better on how to use them correctly.

scholarly journals Evaporation from Camargos hydropower plant reservoir: water footprint characterization

RBRH ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 570-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo de Oliveira Bueno ◽  
Carlos Rogério de Mello ◽  
Geovane Junqueira Alves
Keyword(s):  
Water Footprint ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
High Water ◽  
Hydropower Plant ◽  
Reservoir Water ◽  
Hydropower Plants ◽  
Minas Gerais State ◽  
Meteorological Elements ◽  
Installed Capacity

ABSTRACT In recent years, a relevant debate has been raised by a question related to if the hydropower plants indeed represent a non-consumptive use of water resources. In this context, this work was developed at the Camargos Hydropower Plant reservoir, Grande river basin, southern Minas Gerais state, aiming to estimate evaporation rates, which allow the characterization of the Water Footprint in this facility, between the years of 2010 and 2014. Evaporation rates were estimated based on Linacre, Penman and Penman-Monteith methods. Regarding the distribution of evaporation throughout the year, all methods showed the same seasonal pattern, consistent with the meteorological elements behavior that influence this physical process. Although an annual average evaporation considered normal for the studied region (1329 mm) and a small reservoir area (64 km2), this hydropower plant has presented low electric energy production as it is an old facility (more than 50 years) and has low installed capacity. Therefore, Camargos Hydropower Plant has presented, by all methods, a high Water Footprint (130 m3.GJ–1 on average) compared to estimates for other hydropower plants in Brazil and worldwide.

scholarly journals Application of Regression Models on Panel Data in the Regional Analysis of Water Consumption

2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
А. М. Yerina ◽  
M. P. Ukrainets
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
High Water ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Water Intensity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Production Facilities

Water is a core component of the nature environment. The problem of good quality water supply to the humans has been aggravating because the available resources of fresh water in some regions of the planet proved to be insufficient for satisfying all the consumer needs. Lack of fresh water has been a structural factor affecting the global economic development, with drinking water acquiring the characteristics of a strategic commodity. These circumstances raise the importance of solutions on saving fresh water resources and ways of their rational use from the local level to the global one. The article contains a description of the current situation with water supply and water consumption in Ukraine. As regards water supply, Ukraine, according to the hydrological classification, is undergoing water stress, in parallel with extra water consumption and high water intensity in the domestic production sector. The subject of the study is water intensity of the gross domestic product, its main factors and ways of reduction. The object of the study is seven Ukrainian regions across which the river Dnieper flows, and the city of Kyiv. A significant variation of water intensity is observed in administrative and territorial units located in the Dnieper basin, which is caused by the varying industrial capacities, varying systems of technical water supply at industrial enterprises, and varying scopes of fresh water use in water supply for agricultural and utility needs, lack of advanced systems for water supply in some of the regions, which causes large losses of water and high water intensity in some production facilities. The impact from the above mentioned factors on the regional water intensity is assessed by the regression model on panel data. The specific conditions of the business operation in some regions of the Dnieper basin are represented in the model by dummy variables. By the model of water intensity of GDP, the largest one is the impact from industrial specialization of a region (especially Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv and Kherson regions), the existence of water recycling systems at industrial enterprises, scopes of water drainage and capacities of sewage treatment plants. Effective use, rehabilitation and protection of water resources, improvement of water quality, and reduction of water intensity in the production facilities through taking technological and economic measures in water consumption are considered as important factors of the national security. 

scholarly journals Allocation of water loss to individual benefits provided by the Fláje reservoir - comparison of several procedures

2021 ◽  
Vol 900 (1) ◽  
pp. 012001
Author(s):  
L Ansorge ◽  
L Stejskalová ◽  
J Dlabal
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Water Reservoir ◽  
Pairwise Comparison ◽  
Water Evaporation ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Allocation Model ◽  
Hierarchy Process ◽  
Allocation Strategies

Abstract The water footprint is the sustainability indicator, which describes direct and indirect water consumption. In the case of a water reservoir, the water consumption is represented by water evaporation from the free surface water. Most reservoirs are built as multipurpose reservoirs. The water losses from the reservoirs should be allocated among individual benefits to avoid distortion of water needs throughout the life-cycle of individual benefits provided by the reservoir. Allocation procedures, i.e. splitting a specific input between multiple outputs, tend to be problematic because different strategies can be used and it is not always possible to clearly determine which strategy is the most suitable. The allocation method significantly influences the assessment of the sustainability of individual benefits provided by the reservoir. In the article, we proposed the categorization of individual allocation strategies, we tested the strategy based on the pairwise comparison of purposes of the reservoir, and carried out an assessment of the variability of results of individual allocation strategies on the pilot case of the Fláje water reservoir. It has been proposed a simplified allocation model using the Analytic Hierarchy Process which is taken as a reasonable compromise between the processing complexity and the need to differentiate between the water reservoir purposes.

scholarly journals Haemodialysis therapy and sustainable growth: a corporate experience in France

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2154-2160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges Bendine ◽  
Fabien Autin ◽  
Bruno Fabre ◽  
Olivier Bardin ◽  
François Rabasco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Treatment ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Power Consumption ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
High Water ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Action Plans ◽  
Dialysis Unit ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Introduction Sustainable growth and environmental issues are currently a topic for all human activities, and dialysis represents a real challenge in this field because of high water and power consumption and the production of large amounts of care-related waste. In this article we describe data collection implemented in the NephroCare centres in France and the changes observed during a 13-year period regarding environmental parameters. Methods Monthly data collection (eco-reporting) was implemented in NephroCare centres in France in 2005. It covers three topics designed as key performance indicators (KPIs): electricity and water consumption and care-related waste production expressed, respectively, as kilowatt-hour (kWh), litres (L) and kilograms per session. We report on the three action plans (2005–10, 2011–14 and 2015–18) and changes observed during this 13-year period. Results During the period, power and water consumption declined by 29.6% (from 23.1 to 16.26 kWh/session) and 52% (from 801 to 382 L/session), respectively. At the same time, the yearly number of dialysis sessions has increased from 169 335 to 399 336. The sources of savings came both from improvements in the dialysis technology (dialysis machines and water treatment systems) and from updating and remodelling of the dialysis unit equipment and buildings. The care-related waste decreased from 1.8 to 1.1 kg because of regular staff training and the retrofiltration system, allowing the voiding of the remaining saline solution after dialysis. These savings have been estimated as equivalent to 102 440 tons of carbon dioxide. Discussion Implementation of KPIs and their regular monitoring by trained staff to evaluate water and power consumption and the reduction of care-related water production are essential to implement actions to reduce the impact of dialysis on the environment. These data show the importance of water treatment and dialysis technology to decrease water and power consumption and the production of care-related waste as well as upgrading or remodelling of buildings housing dialysis units. Other measures are discussed, including the reuse of rejected water by reverse osmosis, as well as behavioural changes that are needed to reach sustainable development of dialysis. Conclusion The first step to reach ‘green’ dialysis is to collect precise information from defined KPIs. This is the only way to design action plans to reduce the impact of dialysis therapy on the environment. Beyond this, the nephrology community must be sensitized to this challenge to be proactive and to anticipate future regulations.

Concrete Water Footprint Assessment Methodologies

2015 ◽  
Vol 668 ◽  
pp. 247-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yazmin Lisbeth Mack ◽  
Lidiane Santana Oliveira ◽  
Vanderley Moacyr John
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
High Water ◽  
Iso 14044 ◽  
Life Cycle Perspective ◽  
Water Assessment

Concrete is the single most widely used material in the world and is only surpassed by water in terms of consumption. By 2013, 4 billion tonnes of Portland cement were produced worldwide, enough to produce about 32 billion tonnes of concrete, which represents more than 4.6 tonnes of concrete per person per year. The high water consumption and large amount of wastewater generated in the concrete industry has become a very important environmental issue. Due to the large global use of concrete, it is essential to correctly assess the environmental impacts of this material including impacts related to water consumption. Life cycle perspective is important because it allows identifying and reducing water related potential environmental impacts associated with products. In concrete life cycle assessment, these impacts are not considered mostly because of lack of data. There are several methodologies for water footprint assessment, as The Water Footprint Assessment Tool and the ISO 14046:2014 standard -that is based on life cycle assessment (ISO 14044)-, as well as sustainable reporting guidelines, which include water assessment for organizations. The aim of this paper is to evaluate existing water footprint methodologies based on life-cycle assessment, their concepts and difficulties, and link them to concrete industry. Out of at least eighteen existing water footprint methodologies, it was found that four of them are feasible for cement based materials industry, however there are differences between the definitions and criteria adopted by each methodology.

scholarly journals Impacts of Climatic and Agricultural Input Factors on the Water Footprint of Crop Production in Jilin Province, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6904
Author(s):  
Xiaoxue Zheng ◽  
Lijie Qin ◽  
Hongshi He
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Jilin Province ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Agricultural Input ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels

Water consumption ensures crop production and grain security, and is influenced by many factors. Analyzing the impact factors of water consumption during crop production will be beneficial to the full use of water resources and crop growth. Jilin Province is one of the major crop production areas in China and is facing water shortages. Using the water footprint as an indicator, this study evaluated the water consumption of crop production in Jilin Province during 2000–2016, explored the impacts of climatic and agricultural input factors on the water consumption of crop production, and identified the most influential factors in years under different levels of rainfall. The results indicate that the crop water footprint exhibited a decreasing trend during 2000–2016, and the most influential factors of the crop water footprint changed over the years with different levels of rainfall. Precipitation and the effective irrigation area were the most influential factors in the drought year, and accumulated temperature, machinery power, and chemical fertilizer consumption were the most influential factors in normal and humid years. The most influential factors of the crop water footprint differed in different regions with the differences in natural and human interfered conditions. Identifying the impacts of the most influential factors on the water consumption of crop production would be conducive to optimizing farmland management and achieving sustainable agricultural production.

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