Renewable Energy in the Water, Energy and Food Nexus

JANUARY 2015

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN

THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD

NEXUS

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Acknowledgements

This report beneﬁted from valuable comments by the following reviewers Vaibhav Chaturvedi (Council on Energy

EnvironmentandWaterIndia)MicheleFerenz(EastWestInstitute)OlivierDuboisAlessandroFlamminiJippeHoogeveen

andLuciePluschke(FAO)KatjaAlbrechtDetlefKleinJan-ChristophKuntzeGerhardRappoldUlrikevonSchlippenbach

(GIZonbehalfoftheGermanFederalMinistryforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment)KarlMoosmann(GIZ)Maria

Weitz(GIZ)JordanMacknick(NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory)MartinHillerandAndreasZahner(REEEP)Jeremy

Foster(USAID)AnnaDelgadoDiegoJRodriguezandAntoniaSohns(WorldBank)ManishaGulati(WWFSouthAfrica)

Ghislaine Kieer Diala Hawila Salvatore Vinci Elizabeth Press Deger Saygin Linus Mofor Nicholas Wagner Henning

WuesterOlivierLavagned’OrtigueandArturoGianvenuti(IRENA)IRENAwouldliketoacknowledgethecontributionof

QatarFoundationtothispublication

Authors: RabiaFerroukhiDivyamNagpalAlvaroLopez-PeñaandTroyHodges(IRENA)RabiHMohtarBasselDaherand

SamiaMohtar(TexasA&MUniversity)MartinKeulertz(PurdueUniversity)

ForfurtherinformationortoprovidefeedbackpleasecontactIRENA’spolicyunitPOBoxAbuDhabiUnitedArab

EmiratesEmailinfo@irenaorg

Thisreportisavailablefordownloadfromwww.irena.org/Publications

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RENEWABLE ENERGY IN

THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD

NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

FOREWORD

By 2050, global demand for energy will nearly double, while water and food

demand is set to increase by over 50%. Meeting this surge of demand presents

a tremendous challenge, given competing needs for limited resources amid

heightened climate change eects. To overcome the increasing constraints the

world faces, we need to fundamentally rethink how we produce and consume

energy in relation to the water and food sectors.

Renewable energy technologies provide access to a cost-eective, secure

and environmentally sustainable supply of energy. Their rapid growth can

have substantial spill-over eects in the water and food sectors. Yet detailed

knowledge on the role renewables can play in the nexus remains limited and

widely dispersed.

Renewable Energy in the Water, Energy and Food Nexus aims to bridge this gap, providing the broad

analysis that has been lacking on the interactions of renewables within those key sectors. Building on existing

literature, the study examines both global and country-speciﬁc cases to highlight how renewable energy

can address the trade-os, helping to address the world’s pressing water, energy and food challenges.

In the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, for example, realising renewable energy plans could reduce water

withdrawals for power generation 20% by 2030, the report ﬁnds. Water withdrawals in the sector could

decline by nearly half for the United Kingdom, more than a quarter for the United States, Germany and

Australia, and over 10% for India by 2030 on the back of substantial deployment of renewables, particularly

solar photovoltaic and wind power. In addition, renewable-based technologies can make water accessible

for domestic and agricultural purposes, improving supply security while decoupling growth in water and

food from fossil fuels.

Along dierent stages of the food supply chain, integrating renewables can improve productivity and

reduce losses. The agrifood sector, meanwhile, can further bioenergy development, which, when managed

sustainably and eciently, can transform rural economies, enhance energy security, and contribute to

environmental objectives.

I am conﬁdent this study will expand the available knowledge base and contribute to an increasingly

vigorous global discourse on the challenges and opportunities of renewable energy in the nexus.

Adnan Z. Amin

Director-General

International Renewable Energy Agency

IRENA4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ......................................................12

Introduction ............................................................21

1 The Water–Energy–Food Nexus ............................. 23

1.1 Introducing the water, energy and food nexus ..................................23

1.2 The water–energy nexus ..................................................27

 Quantifyingthewater–energynexus ................................................... 

 Water-relatedriskstoenergysecurity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Energy-relatedriskstowatersecurity .................................................. 

1.3 The water–food nexus ....................................................35

 Quantifyingthewater–foodnexus .....................................................

 Water-relatedriskstofoodsecurity ....................................................

 Food-relatedriskstowatersecurity ...................................................

1.4 The energy–food nexus ................................................... 43

 Quantifyingtheenergy–foodnexus .................................................... 

 Energy-relatedriskstofoodsecurity ...................................................

 Foodsector-relatedriskstoenergysecurity ............................................

1.5 Identifying integrated solutions to manage the water–energy–food nexus ............. 47

2 Renewable Energy in the Nexus ............................ 51

2.1 Introduction ............................................................51

2.2 Renewable energy in the water–energy nexus ..................................52

 Renewableenergyforwatersupply ....................................................

 Waterforenergyproduction ..........................................................

2.3 Renewable energy in the food–energy nexus ................................... 73

 Theroleofrenewableenergyinthefoodsupplychain ..................................

 Increasinguseofbioenergyintheglobalenergymix ...................................

2.4 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

CONTENTS

3 Decision-making Tools with a Nexus Perspective ................ 85

3.1 Insights for nexus-friendly decision making: the case for tools ......................85

3.2 Reviewing existing nexus tools: some current gaps ...............................89

3.3 Conceptual framework of a preliminary nexus assessment tool .....................96

3.4 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Annex .............................................. 103

References ........................................... 110

IRENA6

List of figures

Figure Schematicillustrationofvariouselementsofthewater–energy–foodnexus ..............

Figure Illustrationofthewater-energynexus .................................................. 

Figure CoalminingandwaterstressinChina ..................................................

Figure FrequencyofmajorpoweroutagesintheUnitedStatesbyyear ........................

Figure Amountofenergyrequiredtoprovidem



ofwatersafeforhumanconsumption

fromvariouswatersources ............................................................ 

Figure Globalwatersavingsassociatedwithinternationaltradeinagriculturalproducts

- ...........................................................................

Figure Shareofglobalproductionofricewheatcerealsandsugarbyregion ..................

Figure Directandindirectenergyinputsatdierentstagesofthefoodsector ..................

Figure Oil–cerealpriceinterlinkage- ................................................

Figure Averageannualgrowthinrenewableenergycapacityandbiofuelsproductionacross

thethreeend-usesectors .............................................................

Figure Renewableenergyacrossthewatersupplychain ....................................... 

Figure Desalinationcapacitybytechnology ...................................................

Figure Pathwaysforintegratingsolarandwindresourceswithdierent

desalinationtechnologies .............................................................

Figure Developmentstageandcapacityrangeofthemainrenewableenergy-based

desalinationtechnologies .............................................................

Figure Technologycostcomparisonofrenewableenergy-baseddesalinationversusfossil

fuel-basedplants .....................................................................

Figure Solarwaterheatingcollectorsglobalcapacity- ..............................

Figure Annualenergysavingsinoilequivalentfromunglazedandglazedwatercollectors

inoperationbytheendof .......................................................

Figure Solarheatproductioncostscomparedwithelectricityandnaturalgas-basedheating

indierentregions ....................................................................

Figure Flowchartofembeddedwaterinenergy ..............................................

Figure Waterwithdrawalandconsumptionforprimaryfuelextractionprocessingand

transportation ........................................................................

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

CONTENTS

Figure Estimatedlife-cyclewaterconsumptionandwithdrawalfactorsforselected

electricitygenerationtechnologies ....................................................

Figure GlobalwateruseintheenergysectorfordierentIEAscenarios

and .............................................................................

Figure PotentialforreductioninwaterwithdrawalsforpowergenerationinGCC

regionby .......................................................................

Figure PercentagereductioninwaterconsumptionandwithdrawalbetweenReference

CaseandREmap ...............................................................

Figure Illustrationofdierententrypointsforrenewableenergyintoconventionalenergy

supplysystems ....................................................................... 

Figure EnergygenerationbyanaerobicdigestersystemsintheUnitedStates- .......

Figure Trendsinend-usesofbiogasintheUnitedStates- ...........................

Figure MaincomponentsoftheFAO’snexusassessmentmethodology ......................... 

Figure Fullyintegratedandbi-directionalapproach(a)andentrypointuni-directional

approachfromtheenergysector(b) ..................................................

Figure Dierentlevelsofcomprehensivenessinanalysisofthenexusimpactsof

energypolicy ......................................................................... 

Figure Estimationofthewaterlandemissionsandcostimplicationsoftheassessed

energypolicy ......................................................................... 

Figure Useofpolicyinputstoestimatethewaterlandemissionsandcostimplications

oftheanalysedenergypoliciesandtoaggregatethemintoacontext-speciﬁc

overallindex .........................................................................

IRENA8

List of tabLes

Table Mappingrisksposedbyonesectoronfactorsthatcontributetosecurity

ofothersectors .......................................................................

Table Summaryofrisksandimpactswithinthewater–energynexus ..........................

Table Summaryofrisksandimpactswithinthewater–foodnexus ............................. 

Table Summaryofrisksandimpactswithintheenergy–foodnexus ...........................

Table Listofthereviewandselectioncriteria ................................................. 

Table Reviewofeightdierentnexustools ...................................................

Table Exampleofasimpliﬁedenergybalanceexcludingdetailsintransformationsector

andﬁnalconsumption ................................................................

Table Exampleofthecalculationofwaterandlandindexesassociatedwithanimaginary

windenergydeploymentstrategy ....................................................

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

CONTENTS

List of boxes

Box Deﬁningwaterenergyandfoodsecurity ..............................................

Box Climatechangeimpactsontheenergysector ..........................................

Box Quantifyingthefood–waternexustheconceptofvirtualwater .........................

Box Climatechangeimpactsonfoodsecurity ..............................................

Box Wastewatertreatment ................................................................

Box SolarirrigationinKenyaaviablealternativetomanualpumpingand

toenvironmentallypollutingfossilfuel-poweredgenerators .............................

Box WaterutilitiesgoingrenewableThecaseofwaterutilitiesintheUnitedStates

andSouthAfrica .....................................................................

Box Summaryofmajordesalinationtechnologies ...........................................

Box Solar-poweredreverseosmosisdesalinationplantvillage-levelintervention .............

Box Solarthermal-basedgreenhousedevelopmentmeetingwaterenergyand

foodsecurityobjectives ............................................................... 

Box SaudiArabiaKingAbdullahInitiativeforSolarWaterDesalination ......................

Box TransformingruraleconomiesthroughbioenergythestateofParanáinBrazil ........... 

Box UsingbioenergyandhydropowerforriceprocessingthecaseofNicaragua .............

Box BiogasusefortofuandtempehprocessinginIndonesia ................................

Box PotentialforgeothermalfooddryingthecaseofIceland ...............................

Box Integratedfood-energysystemsthecaseofsimultaneousintercroppingin

SriLankaandMalawi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Box Dualuseoflandforpowerproductionandagriculture ..................................

Box ProducingcropsandsolarenergysimultaneouslythecaseofsolarsharinginJapan .....

Box TheFAO’snexusassessmentmethodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Box Justiﬁcationofthecriteriausedfortheselectionoftools ................................

Box Datachallengesinthewater–energynexus ............................................

Box Exampleofanenergybalance .........................................................

IRENA10

LIST OF ACRONYMS

ATDER-BL AsociacióndeTrabajadoresdeDesarrolloRural–BenjaminLinder

BMZ GermanFederalMinistryforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment

Btu Britishthermalunit

CC Combinedcycle

CCS Carboncaptureandstorage



 Carbondioxide

C-Si Crystallinesilicone

CSP Concentratedsolarpower

CT Combustionturbine

DNI Directnormalirradiance

ED Electrodialysis

EGS Enhancedgeothermalsystem

EJ Exajoule

EPA UnitedStatesEnvironmentalProtectionAgency

EU EuropeanUnion

EWEA EuropeanWindEnergyAssociation

FAO FoodandAgricultureOrganizationoftheUnitedNations

gal Gallon

GCC GulfCooperationCouncil

GDP Grossdomesticproduct

GW Gigawatt

GWh Gigawatt-hour

GWth Gigawatt-thermal

HIO High-ImpactOpportunity

IEA InternationalEnergyAgency

IFPRI InternationalFoodPolicyResearchInstitute

IGCC Integratedgasiﬁcationcombinedcycle

IPCC IntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange

IRENA InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency

IWD IdyllwildWaterDistrict

IWRM Integratedwaterresourcesmanagement



Squarekilometre

KTH KungligaTekniskaHögskolan(RoyalInstituteofTechnology—Sweden)

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

ACRONYMS

kW kilowatt

kWh kilowatt-hour

LPG Liqueﬁedpetroleumgas



cubicmetre

MED Multi-eectdesalination

MENA MiddleEastandNorthAfrica

MSF Multi-stageﬂash

Mtoe Milliontonnesofoilequivalent

MVC Mechanicalvapourcompression

MW Megawatt

MWh Megawatt-hour

NPS IEANewPoliciesScenario

NREL NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory

OECD OrganisationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment

OFID OPECFundforInternationalDevelopment

PC Pulverisedcoalsub-critical

PJ Petajoule

pu Perunit

PV Photovoltaic

REEEP RenewableEnergyandEnergyEciencyPartnership

RO Reverseosmosis

RSP RegionalSolarProgramme

SEALL UnitedNations’SustainableEnergyforAllinitiative

TFC Totalﬁnalconsumption

TPES Totalprimaryenergysupply

TVC Thermalvapourcompression

TWh Terawatt-hour

UAE UnitedArabEmirates

UN UnitedNations

UNCSD UnitedNationsConferenceonSustainableDevelopment

UNECE UnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforEurope

USAID UnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopment

USD UnitedStatesdollars

VCMWD ValleyCenterMunicipalWaterDistrict

WEF WorldEconomicForum

IRENA12

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

renewabLe energy technoLogies offer substantiaL opportunities in the water,

energy and food nexus

The interlinkage between the water energy and food supply systems - the nexus - is a major

consideration in countries’ sustainable development strategies Rapid economic growth expanding

populations and increasing prosperity are driving up demand for energy water and food especially in

developingcountriesBythedemandforenergywillnearlydoublegloballywithwaterandfood

demandestimatedtoincreasebyoverTheabilityofexistingwaterenergyandfoodsystemstomeet

this growing demand meanwhileis constrained given the competingneeds for limited resources The

challengeofmeetinggrowingdemandisfurthercompoundedbyclimatechangeimpactsFromtherice

ﬁeldsinIndiatodesalinationplantsintheMiddleEastandnuclearpowerplantsinFrancethenexusis

alreadyposingasigniﬁcantchallengeforimprovingwaterenergyandfoodsecurityaconcernforpolicy-

makerstoday

Thenexusaectstheextenttowhichwaterenergyandfoodsecurityobjectivescanbesimultaneously

achievedWaterisrequiredforextractingandprocessingfossilfuelsaswellasforgeneratingelectricity

fromvarioussourcesEnergysupplypresentlyaccountsfornearlyofglobalfreshwaterwithdrawals

annually As a consequence the availability and accessibility of water resources for fuel extraction

processingandpowergenerationrepresentakeydeterminantforenergysecurityConverselydisruptions

intheprovisionofenergyserviceswhichareessentialforwatertreatmentproductionanddistribution

alsohavedirectimplicationsforwatersecurityVulnerabilitiesinwaterandenergysupplyalsoposecritical

risks for food security as severedroughts and ﬂuctuations in energy prices can aect the availability

aordability accessibility and utilisation of food over time The agri-food supply chain accounts for

oftheworld’senergyconsumptionandisthelargest consumerofwaterresourcesaccountingfor

approximatelyofallfreshwateruseSuchinterlinkagesarecompellinggovernmentstheprivatesector

communitiesacademiaandotherstakeholderstoexploreintegratedsolutionstoeasethepressuresand

formulatedevelopmentpathwaysbasedonsustainableandecientuseoflimitedresources

Renewableenergytechnologiescouldaddresssomeofthetrade-osbetweenwaterenergyandfood

bringingsubstantialbeneﬁtsinallthreesectorsTheycanallaycompetitionbyprovidingenergyservices

usinglessresource-intensiveprocessesandtechnologiescomparedtoconventionalenergytechnologies

Thedistributednatureofmanyrenewableenergytechnologiesalsomeansthattheycanoerintegrated

solutionsforexpandingaccesstosustainableenergywhilesimultaneouslyenhancingsecurityofsupply

acrossthethreesectorsThisreportanalysesthekeyopportunitiesthatrenewableenergyoersspeciﬁcally

toaddressthekeychallengesposedbythewaterenergyandfoodnexus(seeﬁgureE)

Looking forward, an energy system with substantiaL shares of renewabLe

energy couLd be Less water-intensive

Acrosstheirlifecyclesomerenewableenergytechnologiesarelesswaterintensivethanconventional

optionsRenewableenergyresourcessuchassolarwindandtidalarereadilyavailableanddonotrequire

fuelprocessingandassociatedwaterinputsBioenergyhowevercouldnecessitatesubstantialwaterinputs

dependingonfeedstockproductionResidue-basedbioenergyrequiresrelativelylesswatercomparedto

dedicatedenergycrops—whosewaterconsumptioninturndependsonwhetherirrigationisnecessary

andifsoontheirrigationmethodadoptedthecroptypelocalclimaticconditionsandtechnologychoices

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During the power generation stage water needs for solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind are negligible

comparedtoconventionalthermoelectricgenerationwheresubstantialquantitiesofwaterareneededfor

coolingDuringthisstagesolarPVorwindcouldwithdrawuptotimeslesswaterthanacoalpower

planttoproducethesameamountofelectricityGeothermalandconcentratingsolarpower(CSP)have

higherwaterneedsforoperationRecentprojectshaveshownthatapplicationofdrycoolingsystemsin

CSPplantsaswellasinconventionalpowertechnologiescanreducethewaterusesubstantiallyWater

consumptioninhydropowergenerationoccursprimarilyduetoevaporationfromholdingreservoirsWhere

waterisheldinreservoirsitcouldbeusedformultiplepurposeswithdierentupstreamanddownstream

eectsDependingonthecontextattributingwaterconsumptionentirelytoelectricitygenerationmaynot

beaccurate

Evidenceofwatersavingsfromrenewableenergydeploymenttodatehavebeenlimitedtospeciﬁc

technologiesandcountriesregionsTheAmericanWindEnergyAssociationforinstanceestimatesthat

during  electricity from wind energy in the United States avoided the consumption of more than

billionlitresofwaterequivalenttotheannualwaterconsumptionofoverUShouseholdsThe

EuropeanWindEnergyAssociationfoundthatwindenergyintheEuropeanUnion(EU)avoidedtheuseof

billionlitresofwaterin–equivalenttotheaverageannualwateruseofmillionEUhouseholds

Atanenergy-systemlevelincreasingtheshareofrenewableenergycanreducewaterusesubstantially

ThisreportconductsapreliminaryanalysisonselectREmap



countries(theUnitedKingdomthe

UnitedStatesGermanyAustraliaandIndia)andﬁndsthatincreasingrenewablespenetrationleadstoa

substantialreductioninwaterconsumptionandwithdrawalinthepowersectorOnthebackofasubstantial

scale-upinrenewableenergydeploymentinparticularsolarPVandwindwaterwithdrawalsincould

declinebynearlyhalffortheUnitedKingdombymorethanaquarterfortheUnitedStatesGermanyand

AustraliaandovertenpercentinIndia(seeﬁgureE)

Globalandregionalestimationsalsoshowcaseapositiveimpactofincreasedrenewablesdeployment

onwaterdemandintheenergysectorInitsWorldEnergyOutlooktheInternationalEnergyAgency

concludedthatenergysectorscenarioswithhighersharesofrenewableenergyrequiremuchlesswater

Figure E 1 Renewable energy opportunities in the water, energy and food nexus

WATER

(+55% IN 2050)

FOOD

(+60% IN 2050)

ENERGY

(+80% IN 2050)

Integrating renewable energy

within the agrifood chain

could contribute to food

security objectives

Bioenergy development, when

sustainably and eciency

managed, can positively aect

both energy and food security

Renewables can provide sustainable

energy for agricultural water supply

An energy system

with substantial shares

of renewable energy could

be less water-intensive

Renewable energy

can boost water security

by improving accessibility,

aordability and safety

IRENA’s REmap 2030 is a roadmap to double the share of renewable energy by 2030 – an objective within the UN’s Sustainable Energy

for All initiative. REmap analysis presently covers 75% of projected global total ﬁnal energy consumption in 2030 by analysing 26 coun-

tries. Further details are available at www.irena.org/remap.

IRENA14

Waterwithdrawalsunderthemostaggressivelow-carbonpathway(theScenario)willbehigher

inthanincomparedtohigherintheNewPoliciesScenarioandintheCurrentPolicies

ScenarioThepresentreportestimatesthatataregionallevelrealisingtherenewableenergyplansfor

theGulf CooperationCouncilregion (GCC)willresultinareductioninwaterwithdrawalforpower

generation and associated fuel extraction (see ﬁgure E ) Analysis shows that most of this reduction

willcomefromthelargesteconomyintheregionSaudiArabiaduetoitsheavyrelianceoncrudeoilfor

electricitygenerationanditsambitiousrenewableenergyplans

renewabLe energy technoLogies can boost water security by improving

accessibiLity, affordabiLity and safety

Renewableenergycanprovideaccesstosustainablesecureandcost-competitiveenergyalongdierent

segments of the water supply chain thereby reducing pressure on existing energy infrastructure

Withincreasingwaterscarcitymovinglargervolumesofwateracrosslongerdistanceswillmeanthatthe

hydraulicinfrastructurewillrequiresubstantiallymoreenergyinputs causing anincrease inthe energy

intensityofwaterprovisionRenewableenergyisseenasareliablealternativetomeetinggrowingenergy

demand for water pumping and conveyance desalination and heating while ensuring the long-term

reliabilityofwatersupply

Solar-based pumping solutions oer a cost-eective alternative to grid- or diesel-based irrigation

pumpsets Large-scale deployment of solar pumps can support the expansion of irrigation reduce

dependence on grid electricity or fossil fuel supply mitigate local environmental impacts and reduce

governmentsubsidyburdensRecognisingthesebeneﬁtsseveralcountrieshavelaunchedprogrammesto

promotesolarpumpingIndiaforexamplehasannouncedplanstoreplacemilliongroundwaterpumps

forirrigationwithsolarpumpsShouldmilliondieselpumpsetsbereplacedwithsolarsystemsinIndia

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

GermanyAustralia India United Kingdom United States

Withdrawal savings in REmap 2030 vs Reference Case (%)

Consumption savings in REmap 2030 vs Reference Case (%)

53% 64% 39% 61% 48%

23%40% 32% 16%

10% 16% 11% 12%

35%

23%

Share of RE in electricity mix, 2012

Share of RE in electricity mix, Reference Case

Share of RE in electricity mix, REmap 2030

Figure E 2 Percentage reduction in water consumption and withdrawal between Reference Case (business

as usual) and REmap 2030 (increased renewable energy uptake)

Source: IRENA analysis; Share in 2012 electricity mix from IEA, 2014a.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

thiscouldleadtosavingsofnearlygigawatts(GW)worthofinstalledcapacityterawatt-hours

electricitybillionlitresofdieselandmilliontonnesofcarbondioxide(CO



)emissionsDespitethe

compellingcaselarge-scaleadoptionofsolar-basedwaterpumpsisstillhinderedbyavarietyoffactors

includingrelativelyhighcapitalcostsinertiaintheadoptionofnewtechnologiesestablishingmarketsfor

thetechnologyandensuringadequatetrainingforinstallersandoperatorsRisksarealsoassociatedwith

excessivewaterwithdrawalsinceoperationalcostsofPVpumpsarenegligible

Waterutilitiesarelookingincreasinglytodistributedrenewableenergysolutionstoimproveenergy

eciencyandtheresilienceofsupplynetworksBecauseenergycostsoftenaccountforthelargestshare

ofawaterutility’soperatingbudget(asmuchas)relianceonexpensiveorvolatileenergysources

introducesoperationalrisksToaddressthisseveralutilitiesareintroducingrenewableenergysolutions

alongdierentstagesofthesupplychainTheValleyCenterMunicipalWaterDistrictintheUnitedStates

forexampleinstalledamegawatt(MW)solarpowersystemthatprovidesgigawatt-hours(GWh)

peryearosettinguptooftheelectricityrequiredbytheutility’slargestpumpingstationInSouth

AfricaeThekwiniWaterandSanitationisseekingtoidentifytangibleandproﬁtableopportunitiestoinstall

mini-hydroplantsrangingfromkilowatts(kW)toMWontheexistingwatersupplyinfrastructurein

ordertoimprovesystemeciency

Renewableenergy-baseddesalinationtechnologiescouldplayanincreasingroleinbridgingthewater

gapIntheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica(MENA)regiononeofthemostwater-scarceregionsintheworld

watershortagesbywillbemetmostlythroughdesalinationMorespeciﬁcallytheGulfregionalready

relies on fossil fuel-based energy-intensive desalination to meet its water needs However continued

dependenceonfossilfuelsforwaterproductionisnotsustainablefromaneconomicandenvironmental

perspective Renewable energy technologies oer the opportunity to decouple water production from

fossil fuel supply and to cater to the heat or electricity needs of desalination plants Recognising this

opportunitySaudiArabiaannouncedKingAbdullah’sInitiativeforSolarWaterDesalinationinwhich

aimstoenhancethecountry’swatersecurityandcontributetothenationaleconomybydevelopinglow-

costsolar-baseddesalinationtechnologyAlthoughdesalinationbasedonrenewableenergystillmaybe

relatively expensive decreasing renewable energy costs technology advances and increasing scale of

deploymentmakeitacost-eectiveandsustainablesolutioninthelongterm

Increasinglyrenewableenergytechnologiesarereplacingelectricityorfossilfueluseforwaterand

spaceheatingAlthoughthecostofheatproductiondependsonthetechnologydeployedaswellason

thesizeandlocationoftheinstallationsolarwaterheatersgenerallyarecompetitivewithelectricity-and

Saudi Arabia

Kuwait

Oman

Bahrain

Qatar

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Percentage of total water used for generation

United Arab

Emirates

20%

reduction

in water

withdrawals

in 2030

30%

Figure E 3 Potential for reduction in water withdrawals for power generation in GCC region by 2030

Source: IRENA analysis

IRENA16

gas-basedheatingInEuropethemostcost-eectivesolarthermalapplicationissolardistrictheatingin

DenmarkwhereheatpricesareaslowasUSDperthermalmegawatt-hour(MWh

)InChinasolarwater

heaterscostanestimatedtimeslessthanelectricwaterheatersandtimeslessthangasheaters

overthesystemlifetimeGloballysolarwaterheatingtechnologiesalreadyhaverealisedsubstantialenergy

and emissions savings In  gross solar thermal energy savings amounted to  terawatt-hours

(TWh)ormilliontonnesofoilequivalent(Mtoe)whichiscomparabletoBangladesh’sprimaryenergy

consumptionin

integrating renewabLe energy within the agrifood chain couLd contribute to

food security objectives

Renewableenergycandecouplesegmentsoftheagri-foodsupplychainfromfossilfueluseIncreased

farmmechanisationandexpansioninirrigatedlandfertiliserproductionfoodprocessingandtransport

meanthattheagri-foodsectorhasemergedasasigniﬁcantenergyconsumerGoingforwarditisclearthat

energywillbeafundamentalinputtoensureuniversalfoodsecurityTheseenergyinputshoweverneed

tobedecoupledfromfossilfuelusetoovercomecostvolatilityminimiseenergysecurityrisksandreduce

greenhousegasemissionsallofwhichcouldhamperglobaleortstomeetthegrowingdemandforfood

InthiscontexttheFood andAgricultureOrganizationoftheUnitedNationsinitsEnergySmart Food

Programmeproposesathree-prongedapproachimprovingaccesstomodernenergyservicesenhancing

energyeciencyandagradualincreaseintheuseofrenewableenergy

Renewableenergytechnologiescanprovideaccesstolocallyavailableandsecureenergyalongthe

dierentstagesof the agri-foodsupply chain (seeﬁgureE)Renewableenergycanbe usedeither

directly to provide energy on-siteor indirectly as centralised energy supply On-site renewable energy

resources can improve access to modern energy and substitute fossil fuels for the provision of heat

electricityortransportationserviceswithintheagri-foodsectorIntheUnitedStatesforexamplenearly

gigawatt-hours(GWh)equivalentofenergywasgeneratedinbyanaerobicdigestersplacedon

farmswhichutiliseawiderangeofagriculturalcropresiduesanimalandfoodwastestogenerateusable

energyon-siteintheformofelectricityorboilerfuelforspaceorwaterheatingThiscouldpositivelyaect

economicdevelopmentbringingco-beneﬁtstofarmerslandownersbusinessesandcommunitiesacross

all major segments of the agri-food chain In this manner renewable energy can enable an integrated

food–energysystemapproachthatlinksfoodproductionandnaturalresourcemanagementwithpoverty

reductioninfoodvaluechains

Usingrenewableenergyinpost-harvestprocessingcanreducelossesandenhancethesustainability

andcompetitivenessoftheindustryOne-thirdoffoodproducedislostorwastedgloballywhichalso

840

GWh

2.7

billion

DISTRIBUTION, RETAIL

AND COOKING

PRIMARY

PRODUCTION

Energygeneratedinby

farm-basedanaerobicdigestors

intheUnitedStatesutilising

agriculturalcropresidues

animalandfoodwaste

PROCESSING, POST-HARVEST

AND STORAGE

Nationalelectricitygeneration

frombagassecogeneration

inMauritiussavingan

equivalenttonnes

ofcoalimports

Populationrelyingon

traditionalbiomassforcooking

forwhommodernrenewable

energysuchasbiogas

presentkeyopportunities

Figure E 4 Examples of renewable energy applications along different segments of the agrifood chain

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

representsawasteofresourcesusedinproductionsuchaswaterenergyandlandinputsEnergyisrequired

topreservefoodextenditsavailabilityoveralongerperiodoftimeandreducepost-harvestlossesFood

dryinginparticularstandsoutamongotherfoodpreservationtechniquesbecauseitcanbeperformed

usinglow-temperaturethermalsourcesItisapplicabletomanydierentfoodtypes(includingfruitsand

vegetables)andthedriedfoodthatisproducedislightweighteasilystoredandtransportedandhasan

extendedshelflife

InIcelandgeothermalenergyisusedtodrythousandsoftonnesofcodheadsthatareexportedtoNigeria

Processingplantsalsocanusebiomassby-productsforheatandpowercogenerationInIndiamajority

ofwetbagasse(abyproductofsugarmills)isre-usedwithinplantstomeeton-siterequirementsofpower

andsteamTodaynearlyGWofbagassecogenerationcapacityhasbeendeployednationallySimilarly

inMauritiusbagassecogenerationcontributestosomeofnationalelectricityproductionsavingan

equivalentoftonnesofcoalimportsandpreventingmilliontonnesofCO



emissions

Substitutingtraditionalbiomassforcookingwithmodernfuelsisimperativeforsocialandeconomic

developmentCookingisanenergy-intensiveactivityespeciallyindevelopingcountrieswhereinecient

cookingpracticesarecommonplaceAroundbillionpeoplerelyforcookingontraditionalbiomasssuch

asfuelwoodcropresiduesandanimaldungwhicharenotalwayssustainablyproducedandleadtosmoke

andotheremissionsthatcanbedetrimentaltohealthMoreovertraditionalbiomassisoftenforagedwhich

demandsconsiderablelabourandtimeparticularlyaectingwomenLocalmodernbioenergyresources

where availablecan be used to improve access tomodern energyservices while also meetingon-site

energydemandforelectricityandheatingintheruraleconomies

bioenergy deveLopment, when sustainabLy and efficiency managed, can

positiveLy affect both energy and food security

Modernbioenergycouldplayanimportantroleintheongoingtransformationoftheenergysector

Ithasdiverseapplicationsacrossallend-usesectorstoprovideenergyservicesrangingfromelectricity

heating and cooling and transportation fuels IRENA’s REmap  analysis highlights that by 

modernbiomassdemandcoulddoubleAtpresentthemajorityofbioenergyconsumptionisfortraditional

usesincookingandheating

Bioenergycanprovidealocalisedsolutiontotransformruraleconomieswhileenhancingenergyand

foodsecurityWhenmanagedsustainablyandecientlybioenergydevelopmentcouldcreatenewmarkets

andgenerateemploymentopportunitiesthatcouldpositivelyaectincomesandpovertyreductionwhile

alsocontributingtoenvironmentalobjectivesThistransformativepotentialofbioenergycanbetapped

only when a holistic view of social economic and environmental viability is adopted The impacts of

bioenergyandspeciﬁcallybiofuelsonfoodpriceseconomicgrowthenergysecuritydeforestationland

use and climate change are complex and multi-faceted In general experience has shown that energy

producedfrombiomasscancontributetofoodsecurityaslongasitissustainablyproducedandmanaged

The production of bioenergy in integrated food–energy systems is one such approach Intercropping

Gliricidia (a fast-growing nitrogen-ﬁxing leguminous tree) with maize in Malawi or with coconut in Sri

Lankaissubstantiallyimprovingyieldsofagriculturalproductswhilealsoprovidingsustainablebioenergy

feedstockSuchanintegratedfood-energyindustrycanenhancefoodproductionandnutritionsecurity

improvelivelihoodsconservetheenvironmentandadvanceeconomicgrowth

Land uses for energy and food production are closely related and can be made compatible The

productionofbioenergyfeedstock inparticular energycropsmayrequirearablelandtherebyraising

theriskofcompetitionforlandresourcesThisconﬂictcanbeaddressedbyimprovingland-useeciency

byincreasingyieldssettingtherightincentiveframeworkspromotingintegratedfood–energysystems

IRENA18

assessingthe useofabandoned ordegradedlandsuitableforcertainbioenergycropsand usingnon-

competingagriculturalwastestreamsandresiduesasfeedstockBeyondbioenergythedirect linkages

betweenlandforagricultureandenergyproductionbecomelessintenseEnergyproductiontechnologies

havevaryinglandintensitiesandaectthequalityoflanddierentlyItisthereforeimportanttoconsider

both quantitative (eg installed capacity per square metre) and qualitative aspects (eg duration of

impactchangestoqualityofland)acrosstheentirelifecycle–fuelextractionandprocessinginstallation

production and decommissioning With technology advancements and eciency improvements the

land intensityof dierentpowergenerationtechnologiesreducestherebypresentingopportunities for

repowering existing plants deploying more capacity with less land In general ground-mounted solar

PVwhendeployedinareaswithhighinsolationcouldtransformlesslandthancoalcoupledwithsurface

miningHydropowerhowevermayhaveasubstantiallandfootprintwherereservoirsneedtobedeveloped

Onshorewindlanduseishigherwhenthetotalareaofthefarmisconsideredhoweverthemajorityofthe

landcanbesuitableforotheruses

SolarandonshorewindtechnologiesoeropportunitiesformixedmultipurposelanduseIncreasingly

solarPVandonshorewindprojectsarebeingdevelopedonlandthatsupportsotherindustriesInJapan

theconceptofco-productionoffoodandenergy(knownas“solarsharing”)wasﬁrstdevelopedin

SpecialstructuresarebeingdeployedinvolvingrowsofPVpanelsmountedabovegroundandarrangedat

certainintervalstoallowenoughsunlightforphotosynthesisandspaceforagriculturalmachinerySimilarly

the areas around solar PV and onshore wind plants are being used for farming and grazing activities

allowingfarmerstodiversifytheirincomesourcesSolarPVisnowalsobeingconsideredfordeployment

atopcanalstominimiseallocationofnewlandresourceswhileatthesametimereducingevaporativelosses

ofwaterInIndiaaMWsolarplantwasdevelopedoverametrestretchofacanalsystemproducing

GWhofelectricityannuallyandsavingmillionlitresofwaterfromevaporationeverydayCovering

ofthekilometrecanalnetworkwithsolarpanelscouldpotentiallyconservehectaresand

saveaboutbillionlitresofwatereveryyear

Quantitative tooLs heLp to assess trade-offs and support nexus-oriented

decision-making in the energy sector

Traditionallypolicymakinghasbeenconﬁnedtorespectivesectorswithlimitedconsiderationofthe

inﬂuencethatonesectorcouldhaveonanotherLackofcoordinationbetweensectorscanbeattributed

toexisting institutional arrangements (eg separate ministries) as well as the level of decision making

(eg energy sector decisions maybe morecentralised than water which mayhavea substantial local

dimension)Afullyintegratedapproachtoresourceplanninginlinewiththeconceptofintegratedresource

management would be desirable tobetter manage the nexus but can be a challenging endeavour A

usefulstartingpointcouldbetoanalysehowthedecisionstakenforonespeciﬁcresourceaecttheothers

Fromanenergysectorperspectivethiswouldimplyunderstandingtheimplicationsofpolicydecisionson

waterandfoodsectors

Analytical frameworks could play a crucial role in assessing the impacts of policies on dierent

sectors Such frameworks could help inform policy making by quantifying the trade-os between the

resources and providing a sound framework through which potential and sometimes unexpected

nexus-related risks could be identiﬁed and mitigated in a timely manner Moreover they could also

help identify context-speciﬁc integrated solutions that allow the three sectors to expand without

compromising long-term sustainability There are several tools available to support nexus-oriented

policymakingThesevaryincomprehensivenessscopequestionsaddressedandoutputstheyprovide

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Thisreportreviewedselectednexustoolsresultinginthreespeciﬁcobservations

» DataavailabilityandaccessibilityisakeychallengeforanexusassessmentThechallengeisrelevantfor

speciﬁcsectors(egdataonwateruseorenergyproduction)aswellasacrosssectors(egdataon

wateruseforenergyproduction)Whendataareavailabletheyarescatteredhavelimitedcomparability

withotherdatasetscoverdierentscales(eglocalnationalregional)ordonotprovidetemporal

trends

» Most nexus tools aredesigned for athoroughanalysisof the three sectorswithaviewtoquantifying

trade-oswhileconsideringtheapplicableresourceconstraintsHencesuchtoolshavesigniﬁcantdata

andresourceneedsbutcanbehighlyeectiveininformingdecisionmakingthatissensitivetothenexus

» PreliminaryorrapidassessmenttoolsareofincreasingimportanceSuchtoolswhichcouldprecede

amorecomprehensiveanalysisarerelativelylessdataandresourceintensiveandcanprovideinputs

withinatimeframethatisinlinewiththepolicy-makingprocess

Inthiscontextthereportpresentstheconceptualframeworkofanenergy-focusedpreliminarynexustool

thatprovides a snapshotview of the basic resource requirements (waterenergy and land) for dierent

energymixscenariosTheresultsfromsuchatoolcouldbeusedasinputsforamorecomprehensiveanalysis

thatconsiderstheapplicableresourceconstraintsaswellasthequalityanddistributionoftheimpacts

IRENA20

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

INTRODUCTION

The water energy and food nexus is at the centre of global policydevelopment and the research

agendaThisfocusistestamenttothedeterminantrolethatthe nexuswillhaveintheeortstomeet

rapidlygrowingdemandforwaterenergyandfoodinanincreasinglyresource-constrainedworld

Energy demand will nearly double while water and food demand will grow by over  between

now and  Rapideconomicdevelopmentexpandingglobalpopulationandchanginglifestyles are

amongthekeydriversofthisgrowthGlobalpopulationisprojectedtosurpassbillionby(upfrom

 billion today) with the middle class doubling Also crucial are the eorts to improve lives of the

 billion people without access to electricity  million people without access to clean water and

millionpeoplewhoareundernourished

Given the interlinkages between water energy and food meeting growing demand for resources

is increasingly a challenge An anticipated  rise in energy demand by  could increase water

consumptionforenergybySimilarlywaterneedsforagricultureindustrialanddomesticpurposes

willrelyincreasinglyonresourcesthatarehardertoreachandmoreenergyintensivetoexploitProducing

morefoodwillrequirelandwaterandenergyinputswithpotentialtrade-osrelatedtotheexpandinguse

ofbioenergyResourceconstraintsandtrade-osbecomeevenmorepronouncedatanationalandlocal

levelClimatechangefurtheraddstothechallengebyintroducingnewuncertaintiesinaccessingresources

andmakingexistingsystemsmorevulnerablePolicymakersthereforeneedtoidentifyintegratedsolutions

thatcanaddresstrade-osandmaximisesecurityacrossallsectors

Renewableenergytechnologiesoeropportunitiestoaddresstrade-osandtoleverageonsynergies

betweensectorstoenhancewaterenergyandfoodsecurityThechangingpatternsofenergydemand

combined with thedesirefor secure accessible andenvironmentallysustainable supplyoptions means

that the energy sector is undergoing a transformation led by the rapid adoption of renewables The

UnitedNations’SustainableEnergyforAllinitiativelaysoutanaspirationaltargetofdoublingtheshareof

renewableenergyintheglobalenergymixbyThistransformationbringsnewopportunitiesforthe

energywaterandfoodsectorswhilealsopresentingchallengesthatrequireadequateconsiderationYet

evidenceoftheroleofrenewableenergywithinthewaterenergyandfoodnexusremainsdispersedand

limitedasdoesquantitativeandqualitativeknowledgeontheimpactofexpandingrenewablesonthese

sectors

ThepresentreportrepresentsastartingpointtowardsbridgingtheknowledgegapItbeginsbybrieﬂy

introducingthenexusinchapterandhighlightingtherisksposedbytheinterlinkagesItthenexplores

thesolutionsavailabletoaddressthoserisksandintroducestheimportanceofintegratedsolutionssuch

as renewable energy technologies to address the nexus challenge Chapter  focuses on the role of

renewableenergyinaddressingthetrade-osandmakingexistingenergywaterandfoodsupplychains

moreresilientItadoptsasupply-chainapproachtoidentifyingrenewablesinterventionsalongdierent

segments The chapter also presents preliminary results fromenergy-system level quantitative analysis

conductedtoassesstheimpactofrenewableenergyonthesector’swaterfootprintFinallychapter 

analysesthetoolsavailabletopolicymakersforassessingtheroleofrenewablesinthenexusandproposes

theconceptualframeworkofatoolwithenergyastheentrypointwhichintendstobridgeidentiﬁedgaps

energy

+80%

in 2050

RISKS

TO SECURITY

OF SUPPLY

food

+60%

in 2050

water

+55%

in 2050

15%

of global freshwater

withdrawals are for

energy production

55%

of water utilities’

operating budget is

energy cost

30%

of the world’s energy

consumed by the agri-

food sector

2.7bn

people use traditional

biomass for cooking/

heating

11%

expansion by 2050 in

the land area equipped

with irrigation

80-90%

of all freshwater

used by agriculture

sector

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS 23

Water energy and food systems are closely

interlinked These interlinkages intensify as the

demand for resources increases with population

growth and changing consumption patterns

Meanwhilemajorglobaltrends–notablyclimate

changeandcompetingland-usepatterns–restrict

theabilityofexistingsystemstomeetthegrowing

demandinareliableandaordablemannerThese

dynamicsposesubstantialrisksforthesustainable

development and resource security ambitions of

manygovernmentsbusinessesandcommunities

This chapter introduces the interlinkages

between water energy and food and discusses

the implications of this nexus for the security of

their respective sectors It then focuses on the

threedimensionsthatformthenexuswaterand

energy(section)waterandfood(section)

and energy and food (section ) Each section

presents the sectoral risks and geographical

relevanceofthechallengesSectionidentiﬁes

theopportunitiesforadoptingintegratedsolutions

formanagingthewater–energy–foodnexus

1.1 INTRODUCING THE WATER, ENERGY

AND FOOD NEXUS

Rapid economic growth expanding populations

and increasing prosperity aredriving up demand

forenergywaterandfoodBythedemand

forenergywillnearlydoubleandwaterandfood

demandisestimatedtoincreasebyover

Developingcountrieswillaccountforthemajority

of growth in consumption over the coming

decades concentrated mostly in urban areas

In sub-Saharan Africa for example the share of

urbandwellersisprojectedtoincreasefromof

thetotalpopulationintonearlyin

(OECD-FAO)Moreoverthedriversofglobal

economicgrowthareincreasinglythedeveloping

and emerging economies This is driving up per

capita incomes (still marginal relative to OECD

countries) contributing to increasingly resource-

intensive lifestyles of signiﬁcant shares of the

populationandplacingacutestrainsonresources

inspeciﬁcareas

Access toresources has not beenequitable and

asigniﬁcantportionofthe globalpopulationstill

lacks access to electricity ( billion people)

clean water ( million people) and nutrition

( million people suer chronic hunger

accordingtoFAOa)Inadditiontomeeting

growing demands from those who already have

access the water energy and food systems will

needtoovercomethisaccessdeﬁcit

Meeting growing demand is becoming more

challenging for the energy water and food

Estimated increase in water, energy and food demand by 2050

Source: OECD-FAO, 2012

2050

+60%

food

+55%

water

+80%

energy

THE WATER–ENERGY–FOOD NEXUS

IRENA24

sectors Traditional growth in energy water and

food demand has been met predominantly by

tapping further into fossil fuel freshwater and

land resources These resources are limited in

nature and their extraction and use often have

signiﬁcant social and environmental impacts

Growing reliance on fossil fuel-based energy for

exampleisraisingenvironmentalcostsandfurther

increasesvulnerabilitytopricevolatilityMoreover

the intertwined nature of the water energy and

food systemsmeans that competition for limited

resourcesintensiﬁes

Water is required for extracting processing and

reﬁning fossil fuels as well as for generating

electricity At the same time energy plays an

important role in pumping moving distributing

andtreatingwaterInadditionenergyandwater

arecrucialinputsforfoodproductionprocessing

transport and preparation The agri-food chain

accounts for around  of the world’s energy

consumption and agriculture is the planet’s

largest consumer of water resources accounting

for - of all freshwater use (Ho )

Certain technology choices represent the nexus

in particularly stark forms such as reliance on

energy-intensivewaterdesalinationorproduction

ofbiofuelstriggeringpossibleconﬂictswithfood

commodity prices Figure  illustrates these

interlinkagesschematically

The challenge of meeting growing demand for

waterenergyandfoodisfurthercompoundedby

climatechangeimpactsExtremeweatherevents

such as intensiﬁed droughts and ﬂoods could

cause damage to food crops electrical systems

and water infrastructure All aspects of food

securityarepotentiallyaectedbyclimatechange

including food production access use and price

stability(IPCC)Temperatureincreaseinthis

century is expected to aect crop productivity

negatively and signiﬁcantly with implications

for food security (IPCC ) Regarding water

climate change is projected to reduce renewable

surface and groundwater resources in most dry

subtropical regions intensifying competition

for water among sectors (IPCC ) Already

thereisgrowingevidenceofshiftingprecipitation

Irrigation

Fertilisers

Harvesting

Tillage

Processing

Storage

Pumping

Water/Wastewater treatment

Drainage

Desalination

Water distribution

Energy generation

Cooling

Extraction

Transport

Bioenergy production

Irrigation

Processing

Water Quality

ENERGY WATER FOOD

Bioenergy production

Figure 1.1 Schematic illustration of various elements of the water–energy–food nexus

Source: Adapted from Mohtar and Daher, 2012

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

WATER: WITHDRAWAL AND CONSUMPTION

Withdrawal is dened as the total amount of water taken from a source that may or may

not be returned to that source. Consumption is that portion of water withdrawals that is

not returned to the original source of water.

Source: Hoff, 2011

The concepts of water, energy and food security have been covered substantially in the literature. While there is no commonly regarded

deﬁnition for each, Box 1.1 highlights the most recognised deﬁnitions.

BOX 1.1

DEFINING WATER, ENERGY AND FOOD SECURITY

WaterenergyandfoodsecurityarevariouslydeﬁnedThisstudywillusedeﬁnitionsasprovidedby

internationalorganisationsworkinginwaterenergyandfoodbecausetheyhavebeendiscussedand

agreeduponbyalargenumberofstakeholdersfromtheinternationaldevelopmentcommunity

TheInternationalEnergyAgencydeﬁnesenergysecurityas“theuninterruptedavailabilityofenergy

sourcesatanaordableprice”(IEAnd)Whilethereisnosingledeﬁnitionoftheconceptofenergy

securityithasevolvedfromanarrowlinktothestablesupplyofoilproductstointegrateotherenergy

sourcesaswellastheessentialdimensionofsustainability

AworkingdeﬁnitionofwatersecuritybytheUnitedNationsisstatedas“thecapacityofapopulation

tosafeguardsustainableaccesstoadequatequantitiesofandacceptablequalitywaterforsustaining

livelihoods human well-being and socio-economic development for ensuring protection against

water-borne pollution and water-related disasters and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of

peaceandpoliticalstability”(UNU)

TheFoodandAgricultureOrganizationoftheUnitedNationsdeﬁnesfoodsecurityasexisting“when

allpeopleatalltimeshavephysicalsocialandeconomicaccesstosucientsafeandnutritious

foodthatmeetstheirdietaryneedsandfoodpreferencesforanactiveandhealthylife”(FAO)

patternsthathaveimpactsacrossallthreesectors

aectinghydropowerreservesandthermoelectric

power plants agricultural yields and natural

replenishment of freshwater reserves (discussed

laterinthechapter)Theimpactsofclimatechange

will vary regionally potentially placing acute

strains on delivering services in speciﬁc regions

andrequiringlocal-levelunderstandingofclimate-

inducedeectsonthethreesectorsaswellasthe

interconnectionsbetweenthem

The interlinkagesbetweenthe sectorscanaect

theextenttowhichthreecrucialpolicyobjectives

can be achieved water security energy security

and food security



 (WEF ) (box ) The

interlinkages mean that pursuing security in

one sector depends on the developments in

other sectors Energy security for example is

threatenedbythelackofavailablewaterresources

for thermoelectric power nuclear power and

hydropower plants Conversely a disruption

in energy supply can aect water security by

negatively inﬂuencing water pumping treatment

anddeliveryLimitedwateravailabilityalsoposes

criticalthreatstoachievingfoodsecurityassevere

droughts can catalyse food crisis particularly

in arid and infrastructure-poor areas Security

of drinking water supply of the local population

can be threatened or cannot be achieved due

to inappropriate prioritisation in water resource

allocation

Abetterunderstandingofthetrade-osandrisks

across the core nexus sectors can help assess

the feasibility and impacts of resource allocation

choices for energy water and food security

Tablemapstherisksposedbyonesectoron

the security of the others As highlighted in Box

 several components such as availability

IRENA26

Impactedsectors

WATERSECTOR ENERGYSECTOR FOODSECTOR

SecurityElements

Access Safety

Aord-

ability

Continuity

ofenergy

supply

relativeto

demand

Physical

availability

ofsupply

Supply

sucient

tosatisfy

demand

atagiven

price

Physical

availability

offood

Economic

and

physical

accessto

food

Food

utilisation

Stability

ofthe

otherthree

dimensions

overtime

Impactingsectorsresources

WATER

x x x

•Shifts

inwater

availability

(changing

precipita-

tionpat-

terns)and

quality

(pollutionor

salinity)

•Increas-

ingenergy

demand

forwater

production

treatment

anddistri-

bution

Legal

regulatory

restrictions

onwater

usefor

energy

production

fuel

extraction

Shifts

inwater

availability

aecting

traditional

generation

requiring

expensive

back-up

supply

Increased

variabil-

ityinwater

availabil-

ityforfood

production

particu-

larlydue

toclimate

change

Disruptions

inglobal

food

supplydue

toregional

watervaria-

bilitygiven

geographic

concentra-

tionoffood

production

andcon-

sumption

Impactof

waterqual-

ityonfood

production

andcon-

sumption

Climate

change

impactson

availabil-

ityofwater

resourcesin

longterm

ENERGY

•Limitedor

unreliable

accessto

energy

necessary

toextract

transport

andtreat

water

•Re-

allocation

ofwater

fromother

end-usesto

energy

•Manage-

mentof

damsfor

hydropower

without

considering

needsof

ﬂoodrisk

manage-

ment

Contami-

nationof

waterre-

sourcesdue

toenergy

extraction

andtrans-

formation

processes

Fluctuating

costsof

watersup-

plydueto

variabilityin

pricesofen-

ergyinputs

(incost-

reﬂective

markets)

x x x

•Disruption

inenergy

inputsat

produc-

tionstage

mainly

livestock

(lowrisk)

mechanised

(highrisk)

•Potential

trade-os

between

bioenergy

production

andfood

crops

•Fossilfuel

dependency

ofupstream

anddown-

stream

(transport

storage

etc)food

supplychain

•Allocation

ofagricul-

turalprod-

uctsand

agricultural

landfor

bioenergy

production

(impacton

foodprices)

Socialen-

vironmental

andhealth

impactsof

traditional

biomass

cooking

methods

•Economic

andphysical

volatility

ofenergy

inputs

•Increasing

wastage

(lostpro-

ductivity)

duetolim-

itedenergy

access(eg

storage)

•Increasing

diversionof

foodcrops

forenergy

production

FOOD

•Water

resource

over-utilisa-

tionimpacts

offood

security

ambitions

•Poorly

regulated

agricultural

foreigndi-

rectinvest-

ments(eg

international

landleasing)

Groundwa-

tersurface

run-o

watercon-

tamination

fromfood

produc-

tionand

processing

activities

Contamina-

tionand

overexploi-

tationlead

toincrease

inwater

supplycosts

Overall

increasein

foodpro-

ductionand

changing

dietsraises

energy

demand

alongthe

foodsupply

chain

Lackof

energy

availabil-

ityhinders

foodpro-

cessingand

irrigation

Variationsin

crop-based

bioenergy

feedstock

prices

x x x x

Table 1.1 Mapping risks posed by one sector on factors that contribute to security of other sectors

Source: Based on IISD, 2013; World Bank, 2014; FAO, 2014b

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

accessibilityreliabilityandutilisationareusedto

ascertainwaterenergyandfoodsecurity

Water security elements – access safety and

aordability – are aected by the energy and

food sectors (IISD ) Access to water can

bejeopardisedifthereisalimitedorintermittent

supplyofelectricityorliquidfuelforcriticalneeds

such as pumping conveying and distributing

waterItcanalsobelimitedduetocompetinguses

ofwaterforproducingdistributingandprocessing

foodThequalityofwaterforconsumptioncanbe

aectedbyother sectorsas wellExtraction and

processingoffossilfuelssuchasoilsandextraction

and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil

areknowntocausepollutionofgroundwaterwith

hydrocarbons and heavy metals (Water in the

West)Theexpansionofintensiveagriculture

practices such as the use of chemical fertilisers

and concentrated animal farming has led to the

pollutionofgroundwaterandsurfacewaterswith

nutrients and pesticides (FAO b) Lastly

volatile energy prices can alter the aordability

ofwatersuppliesthataredependentonenergy-

intensiveinfrastructure

Energy security components (in the narrow

sense) – the continuity of energy supply relative

to demand the physical availability of supply

and aordability – all are aected by the water

and food sectors Achieving the key objective

of any electricity system operator – meeting

energydemandwithreliablesupply–isimperilled

when decreased water ﬂows or increased water

temperatureslimitproductionatthermalnuclear

or hydro power plants Regardless of demand

physical energy supply can be limited when

competing needs for water such as agriculture

anddomesticuseplacealimitontheamountof

waterthatcanbededicatedtofuelextractionand

energyproductionFurthertheseconstraintsand

trade-oswithwateravailabilitycanlimitenergy

production and put price pressures on energy

supply

Energy and water supply and demand have an

impact on food security elements the physical

availabilityoffoodaccess(includingaordability)

utilisation (nutrient content and food safety) and

the stability of these elements over time The

physical availability of food can be threatened

when water is allocated for other competing

needswhenirrigationinfrastructureisinecient

or when the energy supply is unreliable and

unavailable to power mechanised farming and

food processing practices These same water

and energyresource strains can aect economic

aordabilityandaccesstofoodUtilisationoffood

can be hampered by the use of contaminated

water sourcesbyhouseholds orbyshortages in

cookingfuelsuchasliqueﬁedpetroleumgas(LPG)

orfuelwoodLastlyfactorssuchastheimpactof

climatechangeonwaterresourcesandtheeects

ofgeo-politicsandpoliciesonenergysourcesand

pricingcanhamperdevelopmentgoalsthataimto

achievefoodsecurityinthelongrun

These risks and impacts arediscussed in greater

detailintheremainderofthischaptercoveringthe

three key areasofnexusinterdependencewater

andenergy(section)foodandenergy(section

)andwaterandfood(section)Thechapter

concludes with a discussion of solutions that are

being adopted globally in dierent contexts to

addresstheserisksandchallenges(section)

1.2 THE WATER–ENERGY NEXUS

Water and energy are critical resource inputs

for economic growth The correlation between

economic growth and energy demand has been

widely established (IEA ) Meeting that

energydemandhoweverrequireswaterInmost

energyproductionprocesseswaterisakeyinput

fossilfuelproductionrequireswaterforextraction

transport and processing thermoelectric

generation based on nuclear fossil fuels or CSP

requires water for cooling hydropower can be

generated only if water is readily available in

rivers or reservoirs feedstock production for

biofuelssuchasethanolmaydependonwaterfor

irrigationandrenewableenergyresourcessuchas

solarrequirewaterforcoolingandcleaningpanels

orcollectorsforimprovedeciency(WorldBank

) The technology choice source of water

andfueltypedeterminetheimpactsofenergyon

thewithdrawalconsumptionandqualityofwater

resources

Conversely energy inputs are spread across the

supplychainofwaterThesupplychainforwater

IRENA28

startswithasourcethenwaterisextracted(eg

pumpingofgroundwater)sometimestreatedand

conveyed – moving directly to an end-use (eg

household irrigation commercial) Once used

the water is returned back to the environment

throughdischarge–withorwithouttreatment–or

throughevaporationInsomecasestreatedwater

maybereused(WaterintheWest)Along

eachofthesestagesenergyinputsarenecessary

dependingonthelocalconditionsThisinteraction

betweenenergyandwaterresourcesisthewater–

energynexus(seeﬁgure)

The water–energy nexus represents a critical

securitybusinessandenvironmentalissuewhich

hasbeenrecognisedincreasinglyinrecentyears

In a survey conducted by the Carbon Disclosure

Project of  companies listed on the FTSE

Global Equity Index Series (Global )  of

energy companies and  of utilities said that

waterisasubstantialrisktobusinessoperations

andofenergycompaniesandofutilities

had experienced water-related business impacts

inthepast ﬁveyears (Carbon DisclosureProject

) There is general recognition that the

starting point of anyeort toaddress the nexus

isquantifyingtheinterlinkagesandunderstanding

the trade-os The International Energy Agency

(IEA) included a special section on water and

energy initsWorldEnergyOutlook forthe

ﬁrsttimeintheorganisation’shistory(IEA)

AddressingthenexustheWorldBankestablished

the“ThirstyEnergy”initiativetohelpgovernments

in developing countries tackle issues related to

water resources and powerservices Additionaly

in response to the growing importance of this

nexus water and energy was the theme of the

WorldWaterDay(UNWatera)

1.2.1 Quantifying the water–energy nexus

Atpresentenergyproductionaccountsfornearly

 of global freshwater withdrawals – or 

billion cubic metres (m



) of water – every year

(IEA)Thisincludeswateruseduringprimary

energy production and electricity generation

Of this water withdrawn nearly  billion m



 or

isnotreturnedtothesourceandthereforeis

deemedtobeconsumed(LavelleandGrose)

Theshareofwaterwithdrawnandconsumedfor

energy signiﬁcantly varies at the national level

In the United States for instance thermoelectric

power generation accounts for nearly half of

all freshwater withdrawn In China where coal

continues to be the dominant fuel powering

Extraction and mining

Fuel processing

Thermoelectric cooling

Transportation

Waste disposal and emission control

Constructing, operating and maintaining

energy-generation facilities

WATER FOR ENERGY

Abstraction and conveyance

Treatment

Distribution

End-use

Wastewater collection and treatment

Constucting, operating and maintaining

water-supply facilities

ENERGY FOR WATER

Figure 1.2 Illustration of the water-energy nexus

Source: World Bank, 2013

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

economicgrowthfreshwaterneededformining

processing and consuming coal accounts for

roughly  billion m



 a year - the largest share

ofindustrialwateruseoraﬁfthofallwaterused

nationally (Schneider ) The most direct

representationofwaterdependenceforelectricity

productionishydropowergenerationNearly

of global electricity production is hydro-based

andhydropowerisamajorsourceofelectricityin

manycountriesaccountingfornearlyoftotal

electricitygenerationinBrazilinforinstance

(RENIEAa)

Globalenergydemandisprojectedtoincrease

byMeetingthisrisingdemandcouldincrease

waterwithdrawalsintheenergysectorbyand

water consumption in the sector by  (World

Bank)ChinaIndiaandtheMiddleEastwill

accountformostofthegrowthinenergyneedsto

howeverthesearealsoamongthecountries

with the lowest renewable water resources per

capita meaning that as the demand for energy

growsthestrainsonlimitedwaterresourcescould

intensify

Energy demand for water services is set to

increaseGlobaldataonenergyuseinextracting

producing treating and delivering water remain

limitedThisisprimarilybecauseoflargevariations

intheenergyintensityofdeliveringwaterdueto

dierencesinwatersource(suchasgroundwater

orsurfacefreshwater)waterquality(high-salinity

seawateristhemostenergyintensivetotreatand

use)andtheeciencyofwaterdeliverysystems

However some national and regional estimates

exist in the United States for example water-

related energy use accounts for  of total

annualenergyconsumption(RiverNetwork

SandersandWebber)

As easily accessible freshwater resources are

depletedtheuseofenergy-intensivetechnologies

suchasdesalinationormorepowerfulgroundwater

pumpsisexpectedtoexpandrapidly(WorldBank

WEFHo)TheMiddleEastand

North Africa (MENA) region among the regions

withthelowestrenewablewaterresourcesinthe

worldishometomostoftheworld’sdesalination

capacityandtheregion’scapacityisprojectedto

increase more than ﬁve times by  This will

raise total electricity demand for desalination in

theregionbythreetimestoTerawatt-hours

(TWh)by(IRENAandIEA-ETSAP)

Signiﬁcant energy is used to heat water for

domestic and industry applications This energy

isderivedeitherdirectlyfromthe combustion of

fuelssuchasnaturalgasandfueloilorindirectly

through electricity In the latter case the risks

posed by the nexus become more pronounced

becauseofthedestabilisingimpactthatincreased

heating demand can have on the electricity

system In South Africa nearly  of domestic

electricity demand comes from electric water

heating systems Even at that level of demand

measures wererequired toreduce demand from

electricwaterheatersduringpeaktimes(seealso

discussiononsolarwaterheatersinsection)

The intensity of the water–energy nexus is a

regional national or sub-national characteristic

which depends on the energy mix demand

characteristics resource availability and

accessibility For power production for example

thechoiceoffuelandtechnologiesholdssigniﬁcant

impactsforthequantityofwaterrequired(World

BankIEALubega andFarid)

Where water resources are limited technologies

thatimposelessstrainonwaterresourcesmaybe

preferable Renewable energy technologies such

as solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind consume

little-to-no water during operation compared to

fossilfuel-basedplantsthatrequirelargeamounts

of water during the dierent stages of energy

production(seechapterforadetaileddiscussion)

Therisksposedbythewater–energynexusaect

allessentialelementsofwaterandenergysecurity

asseenintable

These risks confront not just governments but

any stakeholder engaging in activities that are

aected directly or indirectly by the availability

accessibility and aordability of wateror energy

Consequentlytheserisksandassociatedimpacts

manifest at dierent levels – regional national

and local – causing governments communities

andbusinessestoincreasinglyconsiderthenexus

as a key variable aecting the socio-economic

sustainability of their operations and long-term

objectives

IRENA30

The ﬁrst step of the process of managing the

water–energy nexus is to understand the entire

spectrum of risks that are relevant for a speciﬁc

countrybusinessorcommunity

The intensity ofeach riskwillvarydependingon

the local context but system-level assessments

covered in the literature highlight the following

principal risks for water and energy security

(summarisedalsointable)

1.2.2 Water-related risks to energy security

Water is a critical input for fuel extraction and

processing as well as for power generation The

risks that the water sector presents to energy

security have been studied widely (UN Water

bWorldBankWEFIISD

Ho)andcanbesummarisedasfollows

a) Shifts in water availability and quality, resulting

in reduced reliability of supply

Dierentstagesoftheenergysupplychainare

extremelysensitivetotheavailabilityandqualityof

thewatertheyrequireTheabilityofthermoelectric

or hydropower plants to operate optimally relies

in part on the characteristics of the input water

such as temperature volume ﬂow rates and

density Any deviations can translate into lower

output or shutdown of plants These deviations

couldbearesultofunanticipatedweatheractivity

(eg changes in precipitation patterns extreme

weatherconditionsprolongedheatwavesetc)re-

allocationofwaterresources(egrisingcompeting

waterdemandsforotherusessuchasagriculture

RISKS IMPACTS

Water-related

riskstoenergy

security

Shiftsinwateravailabilityandquality

duetonaturalorhuman-madereasons

(includingregulatoryrestrictionson

wateruseforenergyproductionfuel

extraction)

• Reducedreliabilityofsupplyandreliance

onmoreexpensiveformsofgeneration

• Possibilityofeconomicpricingofwater

andthereforehighercostsofenergy

production

• Reducedavailabilityofwaterforfuel

extractionandprocessingstagesleading

toreducedoutputs

Increaseinenergydemandforwater

productiontreatmentanddistribution

Strainsontheenergysystemand

reducedecienciesgiventhedierent

demandproﬁlesforwaterandenergy

Energy-related

riskstowater

security

• Limitedorunreliableaccesstoaordable

energynecessarytoextractwater

• Re-allocationofwaterresourcesfrom

otherend-usestoenergy

• Disruptioninwatersupplytoend-users

ordiversionofresourcesawayfromother

coreactivitiessuchasagriculture

• Changesindeliverycostofwaterdueto

ﬂuctuatingcostsofenergyinputs

Contaminationofwaterresourcesdue

toenergyextractionandtransformation

processes

Waterresourcesincludingfordrinking

purposesrenderedunsuitabledueto

contaminationoftenrequiringadditional

treatment

Table 1.2 Summary of risks and impacts within the water–energy nexus

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

manufacturingdrinkingwateretc)or regulations

(eg water pricing regulatory caps or bans on

waterextractionanduseforfuelprocessing)This

causestheexistingwater-intensiveenergysystem

to operate sub-optimally and in extreme cases

to switch to more expensive and environmentally

unfriendlypowergenerationoptionsRecentcases

illustratingtheserisksinclude

» Because of prolonged drought conditions

hydropowerplantsintheUSstateofCalifornia

generated less power in  than in the

previousyearsInastatewithmorethan

hydropower plants the share of hydro in the

electricitymixdroppedtoincompared

to a -year average of  (Garthwaite

)Thereliabilityoftheenergysystemwas

maintained in part through increased use of

naturalgasplants

» In-thermalpowergenerationinIndia

declinedbynearlyTWh–enoughelectricity

topowernearly  million Indianhouseholds

forayear–duetoacutewatershortage(Central

ElectricityAuthority(CEA))

» Half of China’s proposed coal-ﬁred power

plants which require signiﬁcant water for

cooling are located in areas already aected

by water stress creating potential conﬂicts

between power plant operators and other

waterusers(seeﬁgure)

» The expansion of shale gas production is

transforming several energy markets As

interest in exploring and exploiting shale

resources rises there is growing concern

about the environmental impacts of hydraulic

fracturing (or fracking) the process used to

extractnaturalgasfromshaledepositsThese

impactsrangefromthepossibilityofgroundand

surfacewatercontaminationtocompetitionfor

water(akeyinputtothefrackingprocess)with

localusesArecentstudyindicatesthatwater

availability could curtail shale development in

many places around the world as nearly 

NOTE:

(1) Bubble size denotes 2012 coal-ﬁred

power generation capacity.

(2) Square marker indicates location of

coal mine;

(3) Baseline Water Stress measures

ratio of total water demand to available

supply, taking into account how much

water has been used upstream.

Coal-Fired Power

Generation Capacity

(total: 642,048 MW)

37.0 %

21.3 %

11.5 %

2012 CHINA COAL MINING PRODUCTION AND COAL-FIRED POWER GENERATION VS BASELINE WATER STRESS

Arid & low water use

( Ratio:

withdrawals/supply )

Low

<10 % 10 %- 20 % 20 %- 40 % 40 %- 80 % >80 %

Low to medium

Medium to high High

Extremely high

Existing Coal-Fired Power

Genration Capacity

Planned & Approved

Coal-ﬁred Power Plant

Coal Mine Location

< 360 MW

> 2720 MW

Figure 1.3 Coal mining and water stress in China

Source: WRI, 2013

IRENA32

of identiﬁed shale resources are in areas that

areeitheraridorunderhightoextremelyhigh

levelsofwaterstress(WRI)

Climatechangeaggravatestheserisksgreatlyas

it can lead to unanticipated disruptions in water

availability and cause a gradual yet signiﬁcant

change in the quality of water available for

cooling and extraction There is ample evidence

suggestingthatoneofthekeyimpactsofclimate

changeontheenergysectorwillbeanincreasein

ambienttemperatureswhichcanleadtoreduced

poweroperationsoreventemporaryshutdownof

power plants Box  summarises the key risks

thatclimatechangeposestotheenergysector

b) Increase in energy demand for water production,

treatment and distribution, with potentially

destabilising impacts on the energy system

Asdemandforwatergrowsandexistingrenewable

water resources are exhausted more energy-

intensivemeans willneedtobedeployedWater

needstobepumpedfromgreaterdepthsdueto

fallingwateracquifersandneedstobetransported

greaterdistancesfromcentralisedoften energy-

intensivewaterproductioninfrastructuresuchas

desalinationplantsGreaterimpactsontheenergy

sectorfromwatersystemsisforcingcountriesto

rethinkthearchaicnormsgoverningtheplanning

of resource and infrastructure development The

experience of several countries attests to the

destabilising impact that energy needs for water

supplycanhaveontheenergysector

» In India where nearly  of electricity

generation capacity is used for agricultural

waterpumping(CEA)lower-than-usual

rainfall accompanied by decreasing water

tables is putting tremendous stress on the

electricity system during peak seasons The

infamousfailureoftheIndiangridthataected

nearlymillionpeople(oroftheworld’s

population)inwasaconsequenceofthe

lack of rain during the South-West monsoon

which led farmers in North India to resort to

excessive electricity-based water pumping

(Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

)

» Most of the global desalination capacity

resides in the Gulf region To meet growing

powerandwaterdemandsnaturalgas-based

cogenerationinfrastructureisusedforelectrical

power generation with fresh water made

availablebyusingdesalinationtechnologyOne

oftheprimarydrawbacksofcogenerationlies

indierencesinwaterandelectricitydemand

proﬁles Water demand has minimal seasonal

variationswhileelectricitydemandexperiences

signiﬁcantvariationsonaday-to-daybasisand

seasonally In cogeneration plant operation

optimising the supply of a relatively constant

output of potable water while varying power

outputoftenleadstoreducedeciencies

1.2.3 Energy-related risks to water security

Existing water systems are predominantly end-

usersofenergyintheformofelectricitybutmany

systemsparticularlyindevelopingcountriesalso

relyonprimaryfuelssuchasdieselforextracting

and deliveringwaterThe availabilityand typeof

energyusedcaneitherenhancewatersecurityor

pose risks toitFurther risksemerge fromwater

contamination threats to both underground and

surfacefreshwaterresourcesSomeofthekeyrisks

identiﬁedintheliteratureandorthathavebeenof

immediaterelevancetocommunitiesutilitiesand

governmentsinclude

a) Limited or unreliable access to affordable energy

necessary to extract water

Making water available for a variety of end-uses

requires dierent levels of treatment depending

onthewatersourceThisalsohasimplicationsfor

howmuchandwhereenergyisrequiredPumping

groundwaterforirrigationpurposesforexample

requiresnotreatmentenergyneedsthereforeare

lower compared tosaydesalination whichuses

substantialamountsofenergytopumpandtreat

seawaterorbrackishwater

Figure  provides an overview of the energy

requiredtoprovide cubic metreor   litres

of water safe for human consumption from

various sources (UN Water b) This energy

comes either from fuels directly such as diesel

orthroughelectricitysupplybutinanycasecan

representnearly-ofautility’soperationand

maintenancecosts(UNWaterbEPAnd)

Any disruptions in energy supply therefore can

aect the availability of water immensely Water

systems dominated by fossil fuel-based energy

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

BOX 1.2

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON THE ENERGY SECTOR

Energysupplyandreliabilityareaectedbythedirectphysicalimpactsofclimatechangesuchas

risingtemperaturesdecreasingwateravailabilityandincreasingfrequencyandintensityofstorms

droughtsandheatwaves(KingandGulledge)Theseclimatetrendsposecurrentandfuture

threatstotheenergysectorinthefollowingareas

•Elevatedwaterandairtemperaturesreducetheeciencyofpowerplantgenerationandposerisks

forpowerplantoperatorsofexceedingregulationsonthermalpollutionreleasedtoreceivingwater

bodiesElectricitytransmissionislessecientwithhigherairtemperaturesweakeningthecapacity

ofgridinfrastructure

•Climatechangeisprojectedtodecreasewateravailabilityinmanysemi-aridandaridregions(IPCC

)withshiftingrainfallpatternsandintensiﬁeddroughtsthreateningwaterresourcesnecessary

fordierentinputsofenergysupplyThermoelectricpowergenerationoilandgasproductionand

renewablessuchashydropowerandbioenergyarevulnerabletoreducedproductionduetowater-

dependentprocesses(DOE)

•Extremeweathereventsarea currentand growingthreattoenergysecurity Inthe UnitedStates

weathercausedofalloutagesfromtoaectingaroundmillioncustomerseachyear

(ClimateCentral)Overthisperiodthefrequencyofmajorblackoutsdoubled(seeﬁgure)

•Increasinglynumerousandintenseﬂoodsinareasclosetoenergyplantscancausesevereharmto

powerproduction and energydeliveryinfrastructure and can result inmorefrequent blackouts in

regionswherepowerplantsareconstructedclosetosurfacewaterresourcesInadditionfueltransport

byrailandbargefacesincreaseddelaysandinterruptionduetoﬂoodingoftransportroutes

These risks do not exist in isolation and converging factors can cause additional challenges For

examplepersistentdroughtscoupledwithheatwavescancurtailelectricityproductionwhilealso

spurringincreaseddemandstrainingtheenergysystem’sabilitytodeliverservices

150

120

Number of outages

1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

Extreme weather is causing more major power outages

(major = at least 50 000 customers aected)

Storms and severe weather Cold weather and ice storms Hurricanes and tropical storms

Tornadoes Extreme heat and wildﬁres

Figure 1.4 Frequency of major power outages in the United States, by year

Source: Climate Central, 2014

IRENA34

inputs are especially sensitive to energy price

volatility which can impair access towater and

ornegativelyimpacttheﬁnancialsustainabilityof

waterutilities

The following examples highlight the impact of

energyinputsonwatersupplyandaordability

» Regions where desalination will play an

increasingrolewillbeaectedmostbythecost

ofenergyinputsintowaterproductionThecost

ofdesalinationisdominatedlargelybythecost

ofinputenergy(IRENAandIEA-ETSAP)

withestimatessuggestingthatenergyaccounts

for more than  of the economic cost of

desalination plants ( WRG ) In the

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region water

and electricity cogeneration infrastructure

hasbeendeveloped whichutiliseswasteheat

from power plants for distillation In Dubai in

theUnitedArabEmiratesforexampleof

waterisprocuredthroughcogenerationplants

thatuseimportednaturalgasFacedwiththe

increasingcostofproducingwaterandunable

toensurecostrecoverythroughprevailingwater

tariregimestheutility(DubaiElectricityand

Water Authority) introduced a fuel surcharge

thatbetteraccountsforthechangesinglobal

fuelprices(GulfNews)

» In Africa’s Sahel region the widespread lack

of energy means that many of the region’s

 million inhabitants have to ﬁnd ways to

transport water from as far as  kilometres

everydayAlthoughtheregionreceiveslimited

annualrainfall (-millimetresperyear)

the water table is at most  metres down

( feet) making water pumping feasible

(Varadi)Withoutenergytotapintothose

groundwater resources however the region

had great diculty coping with prolonged

droughtconditionsInaprogrammewas

launchedtodeploysolar-basedwaterpumping

solutions which continue to beneﬁt nearly

millionpeopleintheregiontoday(Africa-EU

Partnershipnd)(Seealsodiscussiononsolar

pumpinginsection)

b) Allocation of water resources towards energy

production leading to water security risks in other

sectors

Waterisacriticalinputforhealthandlivelihoods

Asconﬂictsforlimitedwaterresourcesgrowthe

risksofre-allocationofwaterforotherapplications

particularly energy generation also increase

Thereisgrowingevidenceofgovernmentshaving

to make the choice between water energy and

foodsecuritygiventhelimitedresourcesavailable

These choices are expected to become more

dicult as the need for meeting rising energy

demands particularly in developing countries

becomes more pressing The following examples

highlighttheserisks

Lake or river

Groundwater

Wastewater treatment

Wastewater reuse

Seawater

0 1

3 4

6 7 8 9

kWh/m

Figure 1.5 Amount of energy required to provide 1 m3 of water safe for human consumption from various

water sources

Source: UN Water, 2014b

Note: This does not consider the distance the water is transported

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

» In China a coal chemical project in the arid

regionofInnerMongoliapartofanewmega

coal power base extracted so much waterin

eightyearsofoperationthatitcausedthelocal

watertabletodropbyuptometresand

thelocallaketoshrinkbyTheecological

impacts were dramatic forcing thousands of

residents to become “ecological migrants”

(Greenpeace)

» InIndiaofnewenergycapacityisexpected

to be built in areas that already face water

scarcity orwaterstress Coalwillremain akey

energysourcetomeetrapidlyexpandingpower

needsdespitetheapparentwaterconﬂicts(WRI

)Forexamplethecountryplanstobuilda

clusterofcoalplantsintheVidarbharegion

ofCentralMaharashtraahighlywater-stressed

areawherelackofwaterforirrigationhasbeen

documented in the last decade (Greenpeace

)

» AcoalpowerstationinSouthAfricawhichis

currently under construction and that once

commissionedwillbeamongthelargestplants

ofitskindisexpectedtousemillionlitres

of water an hour from the nearby Vaal river

Muchofthiswatermaybedivertedawayfrom

currentagricultureandresidentialuseThemain

utilityEskomisclassiﬁedasastrategicwater

user under the National Water Act meaning

thatitisguaranteedasupplyofwaterdespite

competing end-uses for the same resource

(Greenpeace)

c) Risks of water contamination from energy-

extraction processes

The extraction and transportation of fossil fuels

poseriskstothequalityofwaterresourcesandthe

healthofaquaticecosystemsSurface-minedcoal

produceslargevolumesofminetailingscontaining

pollutantsthatcanleachintogroundwaterDuring

oilandnaturalgasdrillingseepageandmajorspills

ofretentionpondsposethreatsofpollutingwater

with heavy metals and high-salinity water There

isalsogrowingconcernabouthydraulicfracturing

for natural gas and oil which can contaminate

surface and ground water and render it unﬁt for

consumption for drinking cooking and other

domestic and industrial uses (UN Water b

IEATheGuardian)

» In the United States hydraulic fracturing

for shale gas and oil produced an estimated

 billion m



 of wastewater in  This toxic

wastewater has contaminated drinking water

resources in states such as Pennsylvania and

NewMexico(EnvironmentAmerica)

» Indonesiaoneoftheworld’slargestexporters

of coal is grappling increasingly with the

water pollution impacts of coal mining on

wateraswellasonfarmlandforestsandlocal

residents Thisis particularly acutein Borneo

whichaccountsformorethanofnational

coal production and where water acidity

has increased substantially with detrimental

impacts on aquatic life and the livelihoods of

localpopulations(Hadi)

» InSouthAfrica’sOlifantsRivercatchmentcoal

mining has contaminated rivers and streams

somuchthatthewaternolongercanbeused

in the region’s coal-ﬁred power stations The

utility’s water either needs to be treated – a

costlyandenergy-intensiveprocess–ormust

be supplied from another unpolluted river

system(Groenewald)

1.3 THE WATER–FOOD NEXUS

Therelationshipbetweenwaterandfoodsystems

isamongthemostwidelycoveredelementsofthe

nexusHistoricallytheaccessibilityandavailability

of water resources has greatly inﬂuenced the

evolutionofagriculturalpracticesgloballyThetype

ofcropsgrownthecropcyclesandtheirrigation

methodadoptedallvaryfromaridtowetpartsof

theworldTodaythewater–foodnexusissymbolic

ofvulnerabilitiesontwofrontschangingpatterns

ofwatersupplythatisinﬂuencingthereliabilityof

water-intensive sectors including agriculture and

growingcompetitionforlimitedwaterresourcesin

meeting the projected increase in food demand

Moreovertheuseoffertilisersandagro-chemicals

has grown considerably under usual agricultural

practicesSuchinputsreleasechemicalcompounds

thatpercolatetothegroundwater

1.3.1 Quantifying the water–food nexus

Agriculture is the world’s largest user of water

accounting for over  of global freshwater

IRENA36

withdrawals (and up to  in some countries)

Waterisalsousedthroughouttheagri-foodchain

including processing distribution retailing and

consumption Not only is water used during the

dierent stages but it is physically part of the

goodsbeinghandledandtraded

By a projected  increase in agricultural

production will cause water consumption for

irrigation to rise by  and withdrawal by 

despite accounting for modest gains in water

eciencyandcropyields(FAO)Althougha

seeminglymodestincreasemuchofitwilloccurin

regionsalreadysueringfromwaterscarcityand

witnessingintensecompetitionwithothersectors

including manufacturing electricity production

anddomesticuseInthefaceofthesecompeting

demands increasing allocation of water for

irrigationwillbechallenging(OECD-FAO)

Irrigation will have to play an important role in

increasingfoodproductionGrowthinagricultural

productiontofeedaprojectedhumanpopulation

ofoverbillioninwillcomefrom)increasing

crop yields and ) expanding arable land area

togetherwithincreasesincroppingintensities(ie

byincreasingmultiplecroppingandorshortening

fallow periods) Yields of irrigated crops are well

abovethoseofrain-fedonesToachieveincreased

production the expansion of harvested irrigated

landareaisestimatedtorisenearlyto

comparedtoariseforrain-fedharvestedland

area(AlexandratosandBruinsma)

Agricultureisbothacauseandavictimofwater

pollution Food requirements in the past have

driven expanded use of fertilisers and pesticides

to achieve and sustain higher yields (FAO nd

a) Although agriculture accounts for - of

globalfreshwaterwithdrawalsmuchofthatwater

ﬂows back into surface andor ground water

(whiletherestislostthroughevapotranspiration)

This allows for the discharge of pollutants and

sediment – through net loss of soil by poor

agriculturalpracticesandthroughsalinisationand

waterlogging of irrigated land In total the food

sector contributes  and  respectively to

theloadoforganicwaterpollutantsinhigh-income

andlow-incomecountries(UNESCOnd)Atthe

sametimewastewaterandpollutedsurfacewater

andgroundwaterareusedforirrigationpurposes

whichcancontaminatecropsandtransmitdisease

toconsumersandfarmworkers

Losses along the food supply chain represent

waste of resources used in production such as

water andenergyThemainchallengefacingthe

foodsystemisnotsomuchexpandingagricultural

production but ensuring that existing food

stocks reach consumers Roughly one-third of

the edible portion of food produced for human

consumptionislostorwastedgloballyequivalent

toapproximatelybilliontonnesperyear(FAO

a) This corresponds to a  loss of direct

andembeddedenergy(FAOb)

Although estimates of loss in embedded water

andenergyremainlimitedonaglobalandregional

scale country-levelassessments demonstrate its

signiﬁcance In South Africa the loss of nearly

one third of food production annually wastes

enough embedded energy to power the city of

Johannesburg for an estimated  years Water

wastage amounts to roughly one-ﬁfth of South

Africa’s total water withdrawals (equivalent to

nearly   Olympic-sized swimming pools)

(WWF)ThefoodlossesinNigeria’scassava

and maize value chain contribute to around

 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO



equivalenttotheatmosphererepresentingabout

 of total greenhouse gas emissions in the

country(GIZ)Reducinglossesintheﬁeld

in storage and along the remaining supply chain

wouldgoalongwaytowardsosettingtheneed

formoreproductionandreducingstrainsonwater

andenergyresources(UNESCO-WWAP)

Although the majority of the food produced is

consumed domestically trade in agricultural

commoditiescontinuestogrowHencequantifying

the water–food nexus requires due consideration

of the virtual (or embedded) water content of

agriculture products (see box ) Virtual water

referstothetotalamountofwaterneededforfood

productionwhichchangesfromcountrytocountry

depending on agriculture practices International

tradeincropsandcrop-derivedproductsaccount

for the largest share () of virtual water ﬂows

betweencountriesTradeinanimalproductsand

industrialproductseachcontributedtoglobal

virtual water ﬂows (Mekonnen and Hoekstra

) This means that countries reduce their

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

BOX 1.3

QUANTIFYING THE FOOD–WATER NEXUS: THE CONCEPT OF VIRTUAL WATER

Thevirtualwaterconceptwasintroducedintheearlysandhasbeenamongthemostdiscussed

(anddebated)methodstoquantifythewater–foodnexus(Allan)Itrepresentstheembedded

watercontentofanagriculturalproductTheconcepthasgainedprominencerecentlytocapturethe

globaldimensionofthewater–foodnexusandtosupportsounddecision-makingonwaterallocation

foragriculturalproduction

Thebasicpremiseoftheconceptisthatsomeworldregionscountrieshavehigherwaterproductivity

ratesand largeswathsofagriculturalproductionthan others creatingahydrologicalcomparative

advantage for them in producing water-intensive crops (Hoekstra ) From an economic

perspectivethisshouldmakethemfoodexporterstocountriesthatarelesswellendowedwithwater

resources“Virtual”watertradegenerateswatersavingsinfood-importingeconomies

Theglobalwatersavingrelatedtotradeinagriculturalproductsintheperiod-wasbillion



peryearConsideringonlybluewater*savingitwouldhaverequiredanadditionalbillionm



per

yearofbluewatertoproducethesameamountofgoodswithoutvirtualwatertradeFigureshows

themajorglobalwatersavingsassociatedwithinternationaltradeinagriculturalproductsExporting

agricultural products (mainly maizeand soybean products) fromthe UnitedStates to Mexico and

Japancomprisesthebiggestglobalwatersavingscontributingoverofthetotal(Mekonnenand

Hoekstra)

Limitationsofusingtheconceptasametrictoguidepolicy-makingalsohavebeendiscussedThese

include for instance the assumption that all sources of water whether in the form of rainfall or

groundwaterareofequalvalueThevirtualwatermetricalsodoesnotprovideanyindicationofthe

environmentalharmorifwaterisbeingusedwithinsustainableextractionlimits(FrontierEconomics

) If for example livestock are raised under rain-fed conditions on pastureland the water

footprintandenvironmentalimpactmaybemuchlowerOntheotherhandiflivestockisrearedin

industrialfeedlotsthatuseirrigatedfodderthewaterfootprintmaybemuchhigher–andmuchless

sustainable(ChapagainandTickner)

Blue

water

73%

21%

Gm /yr

85%

14%

5.1

Gm /yr

5.0

Gm /yr

5.0

Gm /yr

9.3

Gm /yr

7.8

Gm /yr

5.6

Gm /yr

5.4

Gm /yr

5.7

Gm /yr

7.4

Gm /yr

89%

54%

45%

17%

77%

83%

60%

37%

12%

85%

24%

71%

-10%

40%

50%

13%

-2%

85%

32%

-30%

-38%

Grey

water

Green

water

Figure 1.6 Global water savings associated with international trade in agricultural products, 1996-2005

Source: Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2011

Note: Only the biggest water savings (>5 billion m

/yr) are shown. *Blue water refers to fresh surface and ground water; green water

refers to water in soil that comes directly from rainfall; and grey water refers to wastewater from households.

IRENA38

use of national water resources by importing

agricultural products Japan for example saves

billionm



peryearMexicobillionm



Italy

billionm



theUKbillionm



andGermany

 billion m



 (Mekonnen and Hoekstra )

The term “saving” is used in a physical and not

economic sense In water-scarce countries in

particular water saving is likely to have positive

environmentalsocialandeconomicimplications

Hence all other things being equal one might

expect that countries under water stress would

adopt a trade strategythat alleviates theirwater

scarcity problem but international trade in

agricultural goods is driven largely by factors

other than water such as consumption patterns

market complexities policy priorities and wealth

endowment

Meeting growing demand for water and food

will require careful management of risks and

opportunities which are closely related to the

interaction between the dierent attributes of

food and water security Accessibility to water

of sucient quality for instance aects several

food security concerns Water is necessary of

adequatequantityandqualitytoproducefoodand

further downstream during the preparation and

consumptionoffoodSimilarlytheintensiﬁcationof

certainfoodproductionpractices–forexamplea

more aggressive use of soil-enriching nutrients or

evolvingdiets(eggrowingdemandforprotein-rich

dietsinvolvingmeat)–has signiﬁcantimplications

for water security The risks posed by the water-

foodnexusaresummarisedintableandwillbe

discussedfurtherinthefollowingsections

1.3.2 Water-related risks to food security

Waterisacriticalinputalongthedierentstages

of the agrifood supply chain The risks that the

water sector presents to food security can be

summarisedasfollows

RISKS

IMPACTS

Water-related

riskstofood

security

• Increasedvariabilityinwateravailability

particularlyduetoclimatechange

• Regionalconcentrationoffoodproduc-

tionandconsumption

Changesinsupplyoffoodproducts

leadingtohigherpricevolatilityfurther

compoundedbyregionalconcentration

offoodproductionactivities

Impactofwaterqualityonfoodproduc-

tionandconsumption

Utilisationofpoor-qualitywateralong

dierentstagesofthefoodsupplychain

canhavenegativeimpactsincluding

soildegradationandaccumulationof

contaminantswithinthefoodchain

Food-related

riskstowater

security

Impactofagriculturalactivitiesonwater

resources

Useofexternalinputsforagricultureand

foodproductioncanleadtowaterpollu-

tionaectingdownstreamactivitiesand

aquaticlife

Poorlyregulatedagriculturalforeign

directinvestments(eginternational

landleasing)

Increasedagriculturallandleasingwhen

poorlyregulatedcouldleadtoexpanded

useoflocalwaterresourceswithnega-

tivelocalsocio-economicimpacts

Waterresourceover-utilisationdueto

foodsecurityambitions

Pursuitoffoodsecurityambitionscan

strainwaterresourcesoftenleading

tosubstantialdepletioninfreshwater

reserves

Table 1.3 Summary of risks and impacts within the water–food nexus

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

a) Increased variability in water availability,

particularly due to climate change impacts

Water availability is increasingly becoming

a challenge for both rain-fed and irrigated

agricultureRain-fedagricultureisdependenton

seasonalrainfallanddecreasingrainfallreliability

and even minor delays and extremes in rainfall

can aect crop production signiﬁcantly These

impacts are felt more strongly in countries that

aremajordomesticconsumersoffoodproducts

andexportersaswellsuchasIndia

» The Indian monsoon a seasonal event

that brings much-needed rains to farmers

dependent on rain-fed agriculture has seen

overall rainfall lessen over the past decade

whileextremeweathereventshaveincreased

Between  and  wet spells became

more intense and dry spells became more

frequentbutlessintenseThefrequencyand

intensity of extreme weather events during

the monsoon season are important as such

periods can lead to ﬂoods and crop failures

withnegativeimpactsonlocalandglobalfood

security(OgburnandClimateWire)

Forirrigatedharvestswateravailabilityisgoverned

byaccesstowaterresourcessuchasgroundwater

aquifers rivers reservoirs or freshwater lakes

and to energy required to pump that water to

farms As competing demands for water grow

the tensions between water for agriculture and

forotherpurposesarebecomingmoreevidentas

illustratedbythefollowingtwoexamples

» In China competing demands for limited water

resources by the energy and food sectors is

compelling the government to allocate water

more aggressively between the sectors with

governmentrepresentativesarguinginfavourof

increasedfoodimportstofreeupwaterresources

neededforenergygeneration(Reuters)

» Italy’s Lake Como water system developed

alongtheAddaRiverincludesalargestorage

reservoirwhichgeneratesofthecountry’s

hydropower Downstream the river feeds a

cultivatedareaofapproximatelysquare

kilometres(km



)wheremaizeisgrownmost

widely Plant operators use the accumulated

snowmelt from May-July in the following fall

and winter when the demand for electricity

peaksandtheproductionismorevaluableThis

demonstrates the opportunity cost that the

water held in reservoirs represents resulting

in potential conﬂict between downstream

farmers (and other users) and hydropower

companiesespeciallyduringsummermonths

when farmers face critical water shortages

Such situations are expected to increase

as climate change aects the variability of

precipitation and temperatures in the Alpine

environment with potentially severe impacts

on the stream-ﬂow regime and seasonal

snow-coveravailability(Anghilerietal)

The impact of climate change on the long-

term availability of waterresources is immense

Globally average temperatures are rising

unusual precipitation patterns are becoming

more commonandextreme weatherevents are

more frequent There is no doubt that changes

in water quantity and quality due to climate

change are expected to seriously aect food

availability stability access and utilisation – the

keyconstituentsoffoodsecurity(IPCC)

Climate change-related alterations in the

hydrologicalcyclewillaectthequalityandquantity

ofwaterthatisavailableatagiventimeforfood

productionprocessingstorageandconsumption

In-seasondroughtscangreatlyreduceoutputfrom

rain-fedagricultureandlowwateravailabilitycan

negativelyaectoutputfromirrigatedareasBox

providesanoverviewoftheanticipatedimpact

ofclimatechangeonfoodsecurity

b) Regional concentration of food production and

consumption

The regional concentration of food production is

evidentfromﬁgurewhichillustratesthehigh

importanceofAsiainproducingricewheatcereal

and sugar Such “food bowls” of the world are

already facing water stress due to droughts and

depletion of blue water resources which poses

signiﬁcant risks for global food security River

basins thatarecritical in thewater–foodnexus –

such asthe Nile ColoradoEuphrates and Tigris

Ganges Murray-Darling and Yellow River – are

predicted to be “closed basins” (over-allocated)

particularly due to energy and agricultural

production and could face challenges from the

IRENA40

eects of climate change Cases are already

emerging wherevariationsin water availabilityin

aspeciﬁcregionhavemajorconsequencesforthe

security of global food supply aggravating the

alreadyincreasingvolatilityofrelatedcommodity

pricesintheworldmarket

DroughtlinkedtoaElNiñoeventsparkeda

surgeinfoodpriceswiththecostofricerisingto

BOX 1.4

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON FOOD SECURITY

Agricultureforestryandﬁsheriesareallsensitivetoclimateandclimaticchangeswilllikelyaect

productioninallthreeoftheseareasIngeneralimpactsareexpectedtobepositiveintemperate

regionsandnegativeintropicalonesbutthereisstilluncertaintyabouthowtheprojectedchanges

willplayoutatthelocallevelThefoodsecurityimplicationsofchangesinagriculturalproduction

patternsandperformanceareasfollows

•ImpactsonfoodproductionwillaectfoodsupplyattheglobalandlocallevelsIntheoryhigher

yieldsintemperateregionscouldosetloweryieldsintropicalregionsHoweverbecausemanylow-

incomecountrieshavelimitedﬁnancialcapacitytotradeanddependlargelyontheirownproduction

tocoverfoodrequirementsitmaynotbepossibletoosetdeclinesinthelocalfoodsupplywithout

increasingrelianceonfoodaid

•Impactsonallformsofagriculturalproductionwillaectlivelihoodsincomesandthereforeaccess

tofoodProducergroupsthatarelessabletodealwithnegativeeectsfromclimatechangesuch

astheruralpoorindevelopingcountriesriskhavingtheirsafetyandwelfarecompromised

Other food system processes such as processing distribution acquisition preparation and

consumptionaresimilarlyimportantforfoodsecurityOverallfoodsystemperformanceisfarless

dependentonclimatethanitwasyearsago becauseofbothtechnologicaladvancesandthe

developmentoflong-distancemarketingchainsthatmovefoodsthroughouttheworldathighspeed

andrelativelylowcostGivenalikelihoodofincreasingfuelcoststhissituationmaychangeinthe

futureAsthefrequencyandintensityofsevereweatherincreaseasaresultofclimatechangethere

isagrowingriskofstormdamagetotransportanddistributioninfrastructurewhichcoulddisrupt

foodsupplychains

Source: FAO, 2008a

Asia Africa South America North America Europe Central America and Caribbean Oceania

Rice Wheat Cereals Sugar

Share of total global production

in 2013 (%)

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

Production

of top ﬁve

rice

producers

Figure 1.7 Share of global production of rice, wheat, cereals and sugar, by region

Source: Based on data from FAO, 2014a

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

over USD   per metric tonne and triggering

foodriotsinincountriesasfaraﬁeldasEgypt

Haiti and Cameroon The  El Niño brought

the worst drought in nearly  years to India

cutting rice output in the world’s second largest

rice producer by  million tonnes and boosting

globalsugarpricestotheirhighestlevelsinnearly

threedecades(TaylorandCruz)

Moreover the production of many top food

commodities is concentrated in just a handful of

countriesThetopﬁveproducersofriceandwheat

accountedforandrespectivelyofglobal

productionofthesecropsinandIndonesia

and Malaysia produce  of the world’s palm

oilofwhichisusedinthefoodsystemThis

introduces additional vulnerabilities associated

with geo-political events domestic changes in

policies (eg regarding water allocation) and

restrictionsintradeoffoodproducts

» Export bans introduced on food products by

manycountriesfollowingtheglobalfoodcrisis

in-orduetoisolateddomesticevents

suchasdroughtsandhighinﬂationsubstantially

altered the availability of basic food items on

theinternationalmarketGrainpricessurgedin

aswheatpricesweredrivenupbyaseries

ofweathereventsincludingdroughtinRussia

which introduced an export ban (Kovalyova

Kramer)andcreatedashortagein

worldmarkets

c) Impact of water contamination on food production

and consumption

Thequalityofwaterneededforirrigationdepends

on crop properties and on local soil and climate

conditionsCarefulconsiderationofhazardsrelated

tosalinitysodiumcontentsandothersubstances

suchas chloride and boronisnecessary(TAMU

)Thereisalsogrowinginterestintheuseof

wastewaterresourcesfromdomesticandindustrial

streams for irrigation purposes to complement

dwindling fresh water Wastewater can be a rich

sourceofnutrientsandcouldprovidemuchofthe

moisture necessary for crop growth resulting in

higheryieldsandreducingtheneedforchemical

fertilisersWastewaterirrigationcandeliverexcess

nutrientssuchasnitrogenhowever andleadto

microbiological contamination that could cause

yieldlosses(IWMI)

» Worldwide an estimated  million hectares

of arable agricultural land is irrigated using

wastewater(iedirectuseofraworuntreated

wastewater direct use of treated wastewater

aswellasindirectuseofuntreatedwastewater)

with unreported use projected to be even

higher(WorldBankbUNWater)

» Inthe US stateofCalifornia afresh bagged

spinach from a single farm was discovered

to be the source of a  E coli outbreak

that resulted in  illnesses and  deaths

An investigation found the most likely cause

of the outbreak to be contamination of

the groundwater used for irrigation The

groundwatercontaminationinturnwasaresult

ofaquiferrechargewithpollutedsurfacewater

(GeltingandBaloch)

Thequalityofwateravailableforprocessingand

cooking food is also an important determinant

of food security Water is needed for washing

rinsing scalding chilling pasteurising cleaning

sanitationdisinfectionandcookingamongother

applications(UyttendaeleandJaxcsens)In

theabsenceofappropriatemeasuresbeingtaken

the use of unsafe water during food processing

andpreparationcanleadtofoodcontamination

1.3.3 Food-related risks to water security

As the largest consumer of freshwaterresources

globally agricultural practices have substantial

impacts on water security for a broader set

of stakeholders Some of the key risks can be

summarisedasfollows

a) Impact of agricultural activities on water

resources

Agriculturalcontaminationremainsamajorsource

ofwaterpollutionDierentagriculturalactivities

such as ploughing fertilising manure spreading

and irrigation have dierent impacts on surface

water and groundwater FAO’s Control of water

pollution from agriculture provides a detailed

accountofthoseimpacts(FAO)Ingeneral

the degradation of water quality downstream by

saltsagrochemicalsandtoxicleachatesisaserious

environmentalproblemManyoftheseimpactsare

being experiencedtodayand areaecting water

securityatasigniﬁcantscale

IRENA42

» In August  nearly   people were

left without access to safe drinking water for

twodaysintheUScityofToledoOhioThis

was a result of a massive algae bloom in the

freshwater lake from which the city draws

its water supply The primary cause of such

algal blooms has been found to be excessive

quantities of phosphorus with two-thirds of

thisamountenteringthewatersystemasrun-

ofromagricultureClimatechangecouldadd

to the challenge as heavier rains bring more

phosphorus into the lake through agricultural

run-o and as warmer temperatures cause

algal blooms to spread more intensely

(Goldernberg)

» About  of the water pollution in China

comes from agriculture as run-o from

fertilisers pesticides and animal waste China

is the world’s largest producer and consumer

of fertilisers and pesticides making the

agriculturesectorthebiggestsourceofwater

contamination (Aulakh ) In addition

water contamination from industrial waste is

increasingly aecting the food supply chain

intheformofheavymetalspresentinseafood

andrice(Hsu)

b) Poorly regulated agricultural foreign direct

investments in agriculture

Domesticfoodsecurityishighontheagendaofmany

governmentsaroundtheworldInthewakeofthe

foodcrisiswhenatleastcountriesimposed

export bans or restrictions on food commodities

many food-importing countries realised the grave

food security risks that such situations posed

Severalcountries forwhich food self-suciencyis

very dicult to achieve due mostly to limitations

onwateravailabilitybeganbuyingorleasingland

in relatively water-rich countries such as Sudan

and Ethiopia (Bossio et al )In it was

estimated thataboutmillionhectaresworthof

large-scalefarmlanddealswereannouncedinless

thanayear(WorldBanka)

In this context concerns emerge regarding the

eectivenessofregulationsthatgovernwaterrights

extractionandutilisationwithsomeassertingthat

ineectthislandacquisitionamountstodefacto

wateracquisitionThisisparticularlyrelevantgiven

thatmanyofthe recipientcountriesarehometo

signiﬁcant populations of malnourished and are

oftenonthereceivingendoffoodaid

» An analysis conducted by the FAO to assess

the impact of international investment on the

host country found that in many cases the

water security of local communities can be

negatively aected as local farmers face o

againstcompetingwaterusers(FAOa)

» In Sudan land investments are occurring

on the banks of the Blue Nile As large-scale

commercial farmland expands in the region

smallholdersarelosingaccesstobothlandand

waterAsaresultSudanhasbecomeamajor

exporter of food commodities produced by

large-scale farmers but the local population

is increasingly dependent on food aid and

internationalfoodsubsidies(Rulli)

c) Over-utilisation of water resources due to food

security ambitions

Countries in their quest to maximise food self-

suciency are known to adopt policies that are

detrimental to water security in the long term

These policies allow unrestricted utilisation of

renewableandnon-renewablefreshwaterresources

foragriculturepurposesbymakingavailablehighly

subsidised energy for pumping and because of a

lackofproperpricingofwaterresourcesThisleads

tooverdrawingofwaterwithlong-termimplications

forwaterenergyandfoodsecurity

» Agricultural water demands in Saudi Arabia

represented-ofdomesticwaterdemand

between  and  This demand was

backedbyaself-suciencygoalforwheatand

otherproductssuchasmilkmeatandeggsAs

a result of highly subsidised water availability

for agriculture it is estimatedthat morethan

two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s non-renewable

groundwater resources may have been

depleted (Chatham House ) Realising

the infeasibility of such an endeavour the

government nowaims tophase out domestic

wheat production completely by  and

insteadisfocusingonoverseasinvestmentsto

boostfoodsecurity

» InIndiathenumberofelectrictubewells(pipes

thatareboredintothegroundandpumpwater

to the surface) has increased from  million

in  to nearly  million today Much of

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

the electricity consumed by these tubewells

is highly subsidised with farmers paying less

thanofthetruecostofelectricityThishas

promptedinecientwateruseinagricultureas

farmers resort to inexpensive ﬂood irrigation

techniqueswhereinhalfofthewaterislostto

evaporation and run-o (Casey ) In the

stateofPunjabover-pumpingofgroundwater

is directly related to the energy subsidies

provided by the government to the farmer

which encourages intensive agriculture and

consequent impact on underground aquifers

(FAOb)Theimpactsofthispracticeonthe

energysectorwerediscussedinsection

1.4 THE ENERGY–FOOD NEXUS

Discussions surrounding the energy–food nexus

relatemainlytoenergyusewithinthefoodsupply

chain Dependingonthe extentofmechanisation

agriculturalproductionconsumesenergydirectlyin

the form of fuels for land preparation and tillage

cropandpasturemanagementandtransportation

orelectricitysupplyandindirectlythroughtheuse

of energy-intensive inputs such as fertilisers and

pesticidesorenergyformanufacturingagricultural

machineryEnergyisalsoneededduringprocessing

distributionstorageretailandpreparationoffood

products This makes food security particularly

sensitivetothequalityandpriceofenergyinputs

insomecountriesthepriceofoilhasaratherdirect

eectonthepriceoffoodAnotherdimensionofthe

energy–foodnexusthatisgainingprominenceisthe

impactofthegrowingshareofmodernbioenergyin

theworld’senergymixInthefaceofrisingenergy

securityandclimatechangechallengesbioenergy

hasemergedasaviablerenewableenergyoption

for many countries In this context this section

explorestheinterlinkagesbetweentheenergyand

foodsectorsandhighlightsthekeyrisksposedby

thenexus

1.4.1 Quantifying the energy–food nexus

The food chain requires signiﬁcant amounts of

energy with variations in where that energy is

consumed The food sector currently accounts

forsomeofglobalenergyconsumptionmet

largelywithfossilfuels(FAOb)Thebulkof

energyneedsinthefoodsupplychaincomesfrom

processing distribution preparation and cooking

of foods (see ﬁgure ) Not surprisingly more

energyisconsumedintheretailpreparationand

Source: FAO, 2011b

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

High-GDP countries

~50 EJ/yr

Low-GDP countries

~45 EJ/yr

Global total

~95 EJ/yr

Retail, preparation and cooking

Processing and distribution

Cropping productionFisheries production

Livestock production

Figure 1.8 Direct and indirect energy inputs at different stages of the food sector

IRENA44

cooking stages in low-GDP countries owing to

limitedand less-ecientinfrastructurecompared

to high-GDP countries The increased livestock

productioninhigh-GDPcountries symbolisesthe

changesindietstowardsprotein-richproductsas

incomesrise

Asworlddemandforfoodgrows(byaprojected

by)thebulkofdemandformoreenergy

inputstothefoodsystemwillcomefromemerging

economiesinAsiaLatinAmericaandsub-Saharan

AfricaTheestimatedincrease inenergy demand

willbearesultofgrowingpopulationhighercalories

consumedpercapitachangingdietstowardsmore

energy-intensive meat production andincreasing

mechanisation throughout the food supply chain

Emergingeconomiesforinstanceareexpectedto

accountforofthegrowthinmeatproduction

by  (OECD-FAO ) An important

considerationisalsotheenergyembeddedinthe

substantialamountsoffoodwasted

Alargeamountoffoodwithasigniﬁcantenergy

footprintendsupaswasteApproximatelyathird

ofallfood produced is lost orwastedeach year

resulting in a waste of  to  of total global

energyuse(AulakhandRegmi)Indeveloping

countriesoflossesoccurduringpost-harvest

andprocessingwhereasinindustrialisedcountries

more than  of losses happen at the retail

and consumer levels (FAOnd b) This wastage

represents a loss of valuable water land energy

and labourinputs thathavegone intoproducing

the food while at the same time contributing to

greenhousegasemissions

Bioenergybothtraditionalandmodernplaysan

importantroleintheworld’senergymixIn

biomassconstitutedaboutofglobalprimary

energysupplywithfromtraditionalbiomass

(REN ) Globally  billion people use

traditional forms of biomass such as fuelwood

agricultural waste and animal dung for cooking

and heating When harvested unsustainably and

used with inecient cooking technology this

contributestoenvironmentalhealthandeconomic

concerns such as deforestation and chronic

pulmonarydiseasesthroughindoorairpollution

Demand for modern bioenergy is growing for

use in transport heating and electricity Liquid

biofuelsinparticularhaveseenasurgewithglobal

productionexpandingfrombillionlitresin

tomorethanbillionlitresinThisgrowth

hasraisedrealconcernsaboutcompetitionwith

foodcropsForexamplemaizeusedforethanol

intheUnitedStatestotalsmilliontonnesor

 of world maize production (Alexandratos

andBruinsma)Liquidbiofuelsalsoprovide

aroundoftotalroadtransportfuelworldwide

ormillionbarrelsperdayin(IEAa)

The IEA predicts that this number will increase

to  million barrels per day by  With 

countries having biofuels mandates or targets

globally (Lane ) the growing proﬁle of

liquidbiofuelswillneedtobemanagedcarefully

toavoidconﬂictswithfood

Understanding the various risksandsynergies of

theenergy–foodnexusaswellastheimpactson

dierent stakeholders is paramount to pursuing

energy and food security goals in tandem

Accordingtotheliteraturetheriskssummarisedin

tableposethegreatestchallengestomanaging

the interlinkages between the energy and food

sectors(FAOaandbFAObSEI

UN ESCAP  Hazell and Pachauri )

These risks cover threats to the overall physical

resource availability of energy and food acute

failurepointsinthesupplychainandpossibilities

forpoliticalandeconomicdisruption

1.4.2 Energy-related risks to food security

The nature of energy supply into the agrifood

sector can substantially inﬂuence food security

Thekeyrisksposedbytheenergysectoronfood

securitycanbesummarisedasfollows

a) Dependence on fossil fuels increases volatility of

food prices and affects economic access to food

Fossilfuelscontinuetoprovidethemajorityof

theenergyinputsforconventionaldevelopment

oftheagri-foodsectorrangingfromelectricity

andordieselforpumpingfoodprocessingand

storagetofuelforagro-machineryThisreliance

onfossilfuelscomesatacost–relatednotonly

toclimatechangebutalsotofluctuationsinfossil

fuelpriceswhichcancausedramaticchangesin

foodprices(seefigure)The-global

foodcrisiswasdueinparttoincreasingoilprices

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

RISKS

IMPACTS

Energy-related

riskstofood

security

Dependenceonfossilfuelsincreases

volatilityoffoodpricesandaectseco-

nomicaccesstofood

• Fossilfueldependencyofupstream(eg

production)anddownstream(egtrans-

portstorageetc)foodsupplychain

• Pricevolatilityandsupplyshortagesof

energyinputsintroducingeconomicand

physicalrisksinthefoodsupplychain

• Socialenvironmentalandhealthimpacts

oftraditionalbiomasscookingmethods

Potentialtrade-osbetweenbioenergy

productionandfoodcrops

Allocationofagriculturalproductsfor

bioenergyproductionwithpossible

impactsonfoodprices

Risksofenergyproductiononfood

availability

Possiblenegativeimpactsofenergytech-

nologies(eghydropowerthermalpower

generation)onriverandmarinelife

Food-related

riskstoenergy

security

Overallincreaseinfoodproductionand

changingdietsraisesenergydemand

alongthefoodsupplychain

Risingdemandforenergyneedsfor

agriculturecanstraintheenergysystem

particularlyinregionswithapotential

toexpandirrigatedagriculturewith

pumpedwater

Qualityandaordabilityofenergysupply

candependonfeedstockavailability

Inenergymixeswithbioenergyqual-

ityandaordabilityoffood-crop-based

feedstockcanaectenergysupply

Table 1.4 Summary of risks and impacts within the energy–food nexus

Source: Based on FAO Food Price Index and BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2014 (Base 2000 = 100)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Cereals price index Crude oil price index

350

300

250

200

150

100

Figure 1.9 Oil–cereal price interlinkage, 2000-2013

whichhadacascadingeffectthatledtogreater

demandforbiofuelsandtotradeshocksinthe

food market (European Commission )

Another component of the food supply chain

that is affected by energy prices is packaging

(containers boxes etc) for which fossil fuels

areakeyinput

b) Potential trade-offs between food security and

bioenergy production

Bioenergy and food security are connected at

severallevelsThefirstpillaroffoodsecurity–

availability – is affected by biomass feedstock

production through land and farm-gate

producer prices (decreasing food production

IRENA46

increasesfoodpricesandprovidesanincentive

togrowmorefood)Regardingfoodaccessibility

(which includes affordability) an improvement

of the local economy could bring additional

income and hence improve food affordability

Biofueldevelopmentsmaycontributetooverall

improved macroeconomic performance and

living standards because biofuels production

may generate growth linkages (ie multiplier

orspill-overeffects)totherestoftheeconomy

(Urbanchuk)

It is important to carefully manage any negative

impacts of biofuels promotion Although liquid

biofuelscurrentlycoveronlyaroundoftransport

fueldemandasigniﬁcantincreaseinthevolume

of ﬁrst-generation liquid biofuels in the energy

mix could cause interactions with food prices if

not properly managed by cross-sectoral policy

formulation

Whetherthepricecorrelationisasstrongasthat

being experienced with crude oil prices remains

to be seen In the interim strong adherence to

sustainability standards and regulation will be

necessary to align biofuel growth with other

environmentaleconomicandsocialgoals

c) Risks of energy production on food availability

Somespeciﬁctechnologiesforenergyproduction

can aect food availability Thermal power

generationusing cooling water froma rivercan

aect the river’s ecosystem (eg increasing

the temperature of the water) altering ﬁsh

availability and potentially aecting local food

supplyHydropoweralsocanimposeburdenson

ﬁsh(egonmigratoryspecieswhichrepresent

a large share of commercial ﬁsh) as has been

observedintheMekongBasininSoutheastAsia

andintheColumbiaRiverBasininwesternNorth

America Moreover as seen in section 

water held in hydropower reservoirs can aect

availabilityofwaterforirrigationbothupstream

anddownstream

Marine ﬁsheries can be aected by energy

technologiesaswell(FAOb)Aclearexample

istheFukushimanuclearaccidentinJapan

which signiﬁcantlyaected the ﬁshing activity in

easternJapan(Kiger)

1.4.3 Food sector-related risks to energy

security

The risks posed by the food sector on energy

security especially in contexts where bioenergy

playsacrucialrolecanbesummarisedasfollows

a) Overall increases in food demand raise energy

inputs required in the food supply chain and put

strains on energy systems

Populationgrowthandchangingdietsinemerging

economieswillplaceincreasedburdensonenergy

and food production systems due to higher

demand for fertilisers and agrochemicals higher

levels of livestock production and demand for

moresophisticatedretaildistributionprocessing

cooking and food preparation Energy inputs

into the food supply chain are likely to increase

in the coming decades leading to increased

energyproductionnecessitiesandlikelystrainson

energy delivery systems As food demand rises

sowillwaterneedswhichhavetheirownenergy

footprintimpacts

Livestock production is projected to increase

frommilliontonnesin-tomillion

tonnes by  Producing  kilogram of meat

requires-kilogramsoffodderIncreasingmeat

production and other dietary changes therefore

will have signiﬁcant impacts on land and energy

use This will take its toll on the energy system

which will have to provide additional supplies to

producefeedprocessmeatdistributeretailand

cookthefood(OECD-FAO)

b) Quality and affordability of energy supply can

depend on bioenergy feedstock availability

In energy systems dominated by bioenergy

(whethertraditionalormodern)reliabilityofthe

energysupplywilldependgreatlyonthequality

andavailabilityofbiomassfeedstock

Intheruralcontextrelianceontraditionalbiomass

forcookingandheatingplacessubstantialstrains

onlocalecosystemswhereoverexploitationofthe

biomassresourcesuchasfuelwoodorcharcoal

could lead to deforestation and degradation of

forestsas wellas destruction of potentialwater

catchmentsforotherwaterusesThiscanreduce

theaccessibilityofbiomassandfurtheraddtothe

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

drudgeryofwalkinglongdistancestocollectfuel

forcookingandheating

Eorts are under way to promote modern fuels

such as biogas and LPG as well as the use of

improvedcookstovestoenhanceecienciesand

reduce environmental and health impacts In the

developedcontextsimilarrisksalsoapplywhere

areliableandaordablebiomassfeedstocksupply

chainisoneofthekeysustainabilitydeterminants

for power-generation or biofuel projects Any

disruptions ﬂuctuations in feedstock prices or

changes in quality could substantially alter the

characteristicsofenergysupplyespeciallyinrural

areaswheretheserepresenttheprimarysourceof

energy

1.5 IDENTIFYING INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

TO MANAGE THE WATER–ENERGY–FOOD

NEXUS

This chapter has shown that water energy and

foodtogetherformahighlycomplexandentwined

resource nexus It is clear that each of the three

sectors has impacts on the security of supply in

theothersectorsinavarietyofwaysAsdemand

forresourcesisexpectedtoincreasecompetition

andscarcitywillbecomemoreacuteaectingthe

securityofsuppliesacrossallsectorsTheexamples

presented in this chapter illustrate that several

countriesalreadyfaceclearnexuschallengesthus

threateningsustainabledevelopmentobjectives

Decision makers should take steps to promote

growth while being sensitive to social economic

andenvironmentalimplicationsTheenergysector

isundergoingimportantchangeswithrenewable

energytechnologiesaccountingforthemajorityof

newcapacityadditions(IRENAa)Meanwhile

the concept of integrated water resources

management has been adopted widely with

nearly two-thirds of countries having developed

such plans and one-third in advanced stages

of implementation (UN Water ) Measures

are also being taken to adopt more sustainable

and ecient agricultural practices such as shifts

The conference, titled “The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus: Solutions for the Green Economy”, marked a key milestone in the

international discussions around the nexus. It was organized by the German Federal Government in collaboration with the World Eco-

nomic Forum (WEF), WWF and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). It aimed to contribute to the run-up to the UN

Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012.

towards integrated “agro-ecosystems” (Ho

) Yet despite overall progress challenges

remain

As the world reaches – and in some cases has

alreadyexceeded–thesustainablelimitofresource

availability and is at risk of exceeding planetary

boundaries (RockströmetalBMU)

watersecurityenergysecurityandfoodsecurity

willbecomemoreelusiveItisincreasinglyevident

thatdevelopmentstrategies andnationalpolicies

cannolongerbeformulatedforindividualsectors

alone but must cut across the dierent sectors

to better manage trade-os Some argue that

managing thenexusatthe local ornationallevel

doesnotrequireamajorinstitutionalrestructuring

but rather appropriate changes to protocols

proceduresandprocessesthatimproveinteractions

among the relevant governance entities Others

on the contrary arm thatlack of co-ordination

amonginstitutions(silodecisionmaking)couldbe

akeycauseofthenexuspressuresthatarebeing

experiencedtoday

The consultations that took place around the

landmark Bonn  Nexus Conference



 clearly

highlightedtheimportanceofintegratedsolutions

for a green economy – a paradigm wherein

economic growth is decoupled from resource

depletionTheconferencelaidoutasetof“Nexus

Opportunity Areas” highlighted below intended

to“supportsustainablegrowthandachievementof

waterenergyandfoodsecuritybycuttingacross

interlinkeddecisionspacesandidentifyingwin-win

solutions”(BMU)

» Increasepolicycoherence

» Accelerateaccess

» Createmorewithless

» Endwasteandminimiselosses

» Valuenaturalinfrastructure

» Mobiliseconsumerinﬂuence

Inessencetheobjectivesofmostmeasuresbeing

discussed and implemented by governments

the private sector development agencies and

IRENA48

communities to address nexus challenges fall

withinatleastoneofthesixidentiﬁedactionpoints

Adoptingintegratedsolutionsisacompellingcase

foreachofthestakeholdersfromasocialeconomic

andenvironmentalstandpointMinimisingwastage

andlossesindistributionofwaterenergyandfood

canhelpbridgetheprojecteddemandincreases

savesubstantialamountsofembeddedresources

consumedinproductionandreduceenvironmental

impacts

This thinking is also reﬂected for instance in

the Urban NEXUS approach which provides a

framework for municipalities and other cities

to shift from conventional sectoral planning

towardsutilisingtheopportunitiesoeredbythe

interlinkages A growing number of cities such

as Curitiba (Brazil) Durban (South Africa) and

Nashik (India) have started to turn away from

silo planning in the recent years to harness the

abundantpotentialofaninnovativecross-sectoral

nexusapproach(GIZandICLEI)

Revisiting the concept of nexus thinking from

more of a supply-side perspective there is

growing importance of integrated solutions that

enhancesecurityandsustainabilityacrossallthree

sectors (Barrett ) while supporting global

climate ambitions What contributes greatly to

thesustainabilityofanexisting(waterenergyor

food) system is essentially the sustainability of

the resource inputs along dierent stages of the

supply chain Energy for example is a critical

inputalongdierentstagesofthewaterandfood

supplychainandthenegativeimpactsofgrowing

reliance on unsustainable energy sources are

increasinglyevident

These energy sources are characterised by

increasinglyvolatilepricestheycausedamageto

the environment and they are intrinsically more

resourceintensivetoextractprocessanddeliver

Until lately the alternatives did not exist and

growing demand for energy indierent end-use

sectors has been met by fossil fuels But today

renewable energy technologies could provide

integrated solutions that simultaneously enhance

water energy and food security by addressing

trade-os and leveraging on synergies between

sectors

Renewable energy technologies now represent

a mainstream energy source Their distributed

environmentally friendly and less-resource-

intensive nature means that they are compatible

withthebroadergreengrowthobjectivestowards

sustainable development The beneﬁts brought

by renewable energy range widely and include

enhancing energy security mitigating climate

changeincreasingenergyaccessandstimulating

socio-economic development There is now

growingrecognitionthatrenewablesalsocanplay

a signiﬁcant role in reducing some of the strains

acrossthenexuselementsItisexpectedthatthe

beneﬁtsofrenewableenergycanspillovertoother

sectors and that such technologies come with

thepotentialtoenhancewaterandfoodsecurity

underspeciﬁcconditionsChapterexploresthis

dimension further and analyses the beneﬁts that

renewables bring in the water energy and food

sectors

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS

IRENA50

RENEWABLE ENERGY

OPPORTUNITIES

energy

food

water

» Improve access to and

sustainability of water supply

for agriculture use

» Reduce water-intensity of power

sector

» Improve access to water

» Enhance reliability of water supply

» Bridge the water gap in arid regions

» Replace traditional water heating

» Decouple agrifood chain from fossil fuels

» Reduce post-harvest losses

» Improve access to modern cooking fuels

» Enable integrated food and energy

production to enhance security

energy

food

water

energy

food

water

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS 51

The previous chapter presented the interlinkages

between the three key elements of the nexus

water energy and food It highlighted the

importanceofidentifyingintegratedsolutionsthat

are aligned with the nexus concept of analysing

challenges and solutions more holistically across

thethreesectorsAsthedeploymentofrenewable

energytechnologiesacceleratesthereisaneedto

evaluatetheimpactofthisgrowthonthenexusand

toidentifyopportunitiesforenhancingsecurityof

supplyacrossthethreesectors

Thischapterbeginsbyintroducingtherenewables

growth story and highlighting its relevance to

the nexus discussions Based on cases from the

literature it then presents the experience with

deploying renewables along dierent segments

ofthe water energyand food supply chain The

chapter also presents country-level quantitative

analysis conducted by IRENA to understand the

impact of growing renewables use in the power

sectoronwaterconsumptionandwithdrawal

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Renewable energy deployment has expanded

immenselyoverthepastdecadeFigureshows

theaverageannualgrowthincapacityadditionsand

biofuelsproductionbetweenandInthe

powersectorforexamplegigawatts(GW)of

renewableenergycapacitywasdeployedin

which is comparable to all of Brazil’s electricity

generation capacity and accounts for more than

half()ofallnewcapacitydeployedglobally

Togetherrenewablesgeneratedofelectricity

globallyinRobustgrowthisalsobeingseen

in the heat and transport sectors The share of

modern renewables in meeting ﬁnal global heat

demand is now  and gradually rising Liquid

biofuels (including ethanol and biodiesel) which

account for the largest share of transport fuels

derivedfromrenewableenergysourcesmet

of global transport fuel needs in  (REN

)

Source: REN21, 2014

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

3.2%

4% 4%

39%

35%

12.4%

15.7%

5.6%

11.4%

3.7%

55%

48%

21%

14%

5.7%

11%

Growth Rate in 2013

Growth Rate End-2008 through 2013

Power Heating Transport

Wind

power

Solar PVHydro-

power

Geothermal

power

Ethanol

production

CSP Solar

heating

Biodiesel

production

Figure 2.1 Average annual growth in renewable energy capacity and biofuels production across the three

end-use sectors

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

IRENA52

The share of renewables in the global energy

mix is poised to grow substantially At present

renewable energy makes up  of global ﬁnal

energy consumption of which  is traditional

biomass (REN ) This share will grow for

twoprimaryreasons)countriesareincreasingly

realisingthebeneﬁtsofadoptingrenewableenergy

in terms of enhanced energy security improved

energy access socio-economic development

and climate change mitigation and ) there is a

growing consensusthat globally anysolution to

address catastrophic climate change will involve

a substantial expansion of renewable energy

deployment

The United Nations’ Sustainable Energy for All

initiativeaimsatdoublingtheshareofrenewable

energyintheglobalenergymixbyasone

ofits three objectives This would involve raising

therenewablessharefromintoin

 IRENA’s REmap  analysis charts out

pathways to meeting that target and ﬁnds that

underbusiness-as-usualthesharewillincreaseto

only  by  but with realistic potential to

acceleratedeploymentinthebuildingstransport

and industry sectors– the share can reach and

exceed  by  Energy eciency and

improvedenergyaccess can further advancethe

shareofrenewablesintheglobalenergymixtoas

muchas(IRENAb)

Theinterlinkagesbetweenthesectors mean that

changes in one can have spill-over eects both

desired and undesired on the others When

deployedwith a view towards sustainable useof

land and water resources renewables can have

reduced negative local and global environmental

impacts and enhance energy security by

decreasingdependenceonfuelimportsWaterand

foodsecurityalsocanimproveindirectlyifsuitable

renewable energy technologies are deployed to

expandaccesstomodernenergyservicesandto

meet growing energy needs along the dierent

segmentsofthewaterandfoodsupplychain

An energy system with a substantial share of

renewableswouldaectthefoodandwatersector

dierentlythan one based mainly on fossil fuels

Manyrenewable energyresources suchas solar

wind and tidal are freely available and require

minimalresourceinputs(egwater)duringthefuel

extractionprocessingandtransportationphases

During the transformation stage (converting

primaryenergyintoelectricityortransportfuels)

water use varies by renewable technology but

can generally be lower than for conventional

technologies(discussedfurtherinsection)

In the case of bioenergy concerns arise due to

potentialimpactsonlanduseandfoodandwater

securityparticularlywiththeuseofirrigatedfood

crops as feedstock but these concerns can be

addressed byadopting sustainable practicesand

speciﬁcsafeguardmeasures

A number of risks could be mitigated through

a better understanding of trade-os utilisation

of existing tools and adoption of sustainability

standards and eectiveregulations Substantially

increasing the share of bioenergy in the global

energy mix however will require a transition to

using biomass feedstock and processes that are

environmentallysustainableanddonotcompete

directlyorindirectlywithfoodproduction

The remaining sections of this chapter delve

deeper into the role of renewable energy in the

energy–water (section ) and food–energy

(section ) nexus The impacts on the food–

water nexus are spill-overs from the other two

elements being discussed where energy is a

commondenominatorLandisyetanothercritical

resourceinputparticularlywithintheenergyand

foodsectorsandwillbedealtwithaccordinglyin

thefollowingsections

2.2 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER–

ENERGY NEXUS

Thewater–energynexusas seeninchapteris

emergingasakeysecurity-of-supplyriskforboth

the energy and water sectors Variability in the

water supply and competing needs are forcing

traditional power plants to reduce generation

in many countries meanwhile securing reliable

and aordable energy inputs for water systems

is increasingly a challenge Renewable energy

technologies arecapableof playinga keyrolein

addressingsomeofthemostchallengingaspects

of the water–energy nexus This section reviews

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

practical applications of renewable energy in

managingthewater–energynexus

2.2.1 Renewable energy for water supply

Wateruseisinextricablylinkedtoenergysupply

requiringenergyinputsforeverystepThesupply

chain for water starts with a source then water

is extracted (eg pumping of ground water)

and conveyed – moving directly to an end-use

(eg irrigationcommercial)ortoa treatmentor

desalinationplantfromwhereitisdistributedto

customers Once used the water is discharged

back to a source – with or without treatment

In some cases treated water may be re-used

for tertiary use by industries as in the case of

eThekwini Municipal Water and Sanitation Unit

in South Africa (WSP ) Energy inputs (and

outputs)arespreadacrossthissupplychainand

renewable energy can be utilised at dierent

stages Although renewable energy may not

reduce the energy intensity of the processes it

may reduce the environmental footprint and can

be particularly useful in o-grid applications to

increaseaccesstoreliablewaterservices

Renewable energy intervention along dierent

segmentsofthewatersupplychaincanenhance

watersecurityandeasethewater–energynexus

Figure  depicts the water supply chain and

identiﬁes the various segments – water pumping

andconveyancedesalinationandheating–where

renewableenergycanprovideaccesstosustainable

andsecureenergyandreplaceconventionalenergy

sources Additional opportunities for renewable

energy integration alsoemergefromwastewater

treatment(seebox)

Itisimportanttonotethatthewatersupplychain

could cover vast geographical spaces between

source and end-use Given the water scarcity

situationlarge-scaleinter-basinwatertransfersat

thenationallevel(andincreasinglyattheregional

level) are becoming the norm to meet growing

water needs The transfer of larger volumes of

wateracrosslongerdistanceslikelywillmeanthat

thehydraulicinfrastructurewillrequiresubstantially

more energy inputs causing an increase in the

embodiedenergyintensityofwaterprovision

Water pumping and conveyance

Water pumping is a major energy consumer

withinatraditionalwatersupplychainDelivering

water originating from surface or underground

water sources to treatment plants requires

signiﬁcantenergyinputsWithinthewatersector

two distinct contexts exist The ﬁrst is remote

areas where access to energy is limited or non-

existent and where water sources are far from

ruralcommunitiesrequiringlocalseithertotravel

long distances to procure water or to rely on

intermittent and expensive delivery mechanisms

suchasdieselpumpsorperiodicwaterdeliveries

The second contextisrelativelydeveloped water

supplychainswhereenergymostnotablyinthe

formofgrid electricityisavailablebut concerns

Source

Reservoirs,

lakes,

rivers, sea

etc.

Source

Reservoirs,

lakes,

rivers, sea

etc.

End-use

Agriculture

industry

residential

commercial

energy prod.

Water

pumping

Water

heating

Wastewater

treatment

Transpiration

Evaporation

Green arrows indicate renewable energy

Desalination/

treatment

Figure 2.2 Renewable energy across the water supply chain

Source: IRENA

IRENA54

aboutaordabilityandtheenvironmentalimpact

ofwatersupplyarecompellingutilitiestoexplore

alternateenergysolutions

Aroundbillionpeopleornearlyone-ﬁfthofthe

world’spopulationliveinareasofphysicalwater

scarcityAnotherbillionpeopleoralmostone-

quarterof theworld’spopulationfaceeconomic

watershortagemeaningthattheircountrieslack

the necessary infrastructure to take water from

riversandaquifers(UNDESAnd)Groundwater

in particular is an essential source of life and

livelihoodItservesasavitalsourceoffreshwater

for domestic and agriculture uses Extracting

groundwaterhoweverrequirespumpingwhichin

turnrequireslargeenergyinputscommonlyinthe

formofelectricityanddieselfuel

India is the largest user of groundwater for

agriculture accounting for nearly  of all

freshwateruseMostofIndia’sestimatedmillion

agriculturepumpsaredrivenbyhighlysubsidised

electricity or diesel including at least  million

grid-based(electric)pumpsandmilliondiesel-

operatedirrigationpumpsets(TweedIGEP

 CEEW ) This poses a tremendous

challenge for the long-term socio-economic

stabilityofthecountry’senergyandwatersupply

systemsIndiaalonespendsoverUSDbillionon

energysubsidiesannuallyandfarmerspayonlyan

estimatedofthetruecostofelectricity(Casey

) This subsidised energy for groundwater

pumping also contributes to overdraft of

groundwater As water levels drop more power

is needed to retrieve water thus increasing the

energyintensityofwaterextraction

Solar-based pumping solutions oer a cost-

eectivealternativetopumpsetsthatrunongrid

electricityordieselThelarge-scaledeploymentof

solarpumpscanbringmultiplebeneﬁtsincluding

expansion of water services to underserved

communitiesandunirrigatedlandswhilereducing

dependence on grid electricity or fossil fuel

supply Their use also helps mitigate the local

environmental impacts of using diesel enhance

BOX 2.1

WASTEWATER TREATMENT

FollowingitsusewateriseithertreatedordischargeddirectlyintotheenvironmentSynthesising

whatdatathereareonwastewatertreatmentonaveragehigh-incomecountriestreatofthe

wastewatergeneratedupper-middle-incomecountriesandlower-middle-incomecountries

Inlow-incomecountriesjustofthewastewatergeneratedundergoesanykindoftreatment(UNU

)

WastewatertreatmentincludesenergyinputsforcollectiontreatmentanddischargeIntheUnited

Statestheseprocesses consumeacombined oftotalelectricityusewithsimilarratesinother

developedcountries(WaterintheWest)Mostofthisenergygoesintopumpingwaterfrom

thesourceandtothepracticeofaeratingwasteduringaerobictreatmentThesolidsrecoveredafter

treatmentareusuallytreatedre-usedforfertiliserorincineratedordepositedinlandﬁllsThehigher

theproductionofsolidsthemoreenergyisneededfordisposalorincinerationIndevelopingcountry

settingstheinabilitytoprovidetherequiredstableenergysupplyhasbeenamajorcontributortothe

failureorabandonmentofwastewatertreatmentplants

Wastewateritselfholdsimmensepotentialforenergyproduction Theenergycontainedinwaste

waterandbiosolidsexceedstheenergyneededfortreatmentby-fold(WERF)Biogasfrom

anaerobictreatmentandtheend-productbiosolidsarealargesourceofenergyandcanbeusedto

generateenergyon-siteBiogascanbeuseddirectlyforcombinedheatandpower(CHP)production

Signiﬁcantamountsofbiosolidsalreadyareincinerated(withoutenergyproduction)orputinlandﬁlls

andcouldbeutilisedforenergyproductionThesetechnologieshavereceivedsigniﬁcantattention

areproventobecosteectiveandknowntobepredictable

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

overall grid stability in agrarian economies

and reduce electricity and fossil fuel subsidy

burdensThetechnologyismatureandhasbeen

successfullydeployedatscaleThetwophasesof

theRegionalSolarProgramme(RSP)launchedby

thePermanent InterstateCommitteeforDrought

Controlin the Sahel in  havedeployed 

solar pumping stations and  community

systemsprovidingimprovedaccesstowaterand

electricitytomillionpeopleThesesystemshave

been operating successfully and reliably for over

yearsBytheendofthesecondphasein

the population without access to safe drinking

waterhaddroppedbyintheSahelcountries

ofWestAfrica(IRENAa)

Recognising the beneﬁts several countries have

launchedprogrammestopromotesolarpumping

(seealsobox)Forexample

» India announced plans to replace many of its

milliongroundwaterpumpsforirrigationwith

solar pumps (Tweed)Shouldhalf ofthe

BOX 2.2

SOLAR IRRIGATION IN KENYA

A viable alternative to manual pumping and to environmentally polluting fossil

fuel-powered generators

There are an estimated  million smallholder farmers in Kenya and only  of the farmland is

irrigatedLackofaccesstoenergyforirrigationisoneofthemainfactorslimitingtheproductivity

ofsmallfarmsDierentformsofmanualpumpingtechnologiessuchastreadlingpumpsexistbut

theyarelabour-intensivephysicallyexhaustingandappropriateonlywherewatertablesareshallow

Dieselorpetrol-poweredenginepumpsoeranalternativebuttheyalsoposeenvironmentalrisks

andhavevolatileoperationalcostsdependingonthepriceoffuelalongwithalimitedlifespanof-

yearsSmall-scaleirrigationsystemsbasedonrenewableenergycouldprovideaviablealternative

Solar-poweredpumpscanprovidedecentralisedpumpingfortheexpansionofirrigationandhence

cultivatedareaswhichdirectlytranslatesintoincreasedincomeforsmallholdersduetoincreased

andormorestableyields

Oneofthesolar-basedirrigationsolutionsistheSunﬂowersolar-poweredwaterpumpFieldtrials

involvingtenpumpsatpilotfarmsinEthiopiaandKenya(supportedbytheRenewableEnergyand

EnergyEciencyPartnershipREEEP)demonstratethatthesystemisabletoprovidewateryields

uptolitresperdayandcanoperateatpumpingdepthsof–metres(ideallymetres)

ThesystemhasalowcapitalcostofaroundUSDwhichcanbeosetbysavingsonfossilfuels

depending on local prices and availability of fossilfuels With a lifespan of  years the ﬁnancial

break-evenpointisusuallytwoyears

Theprogrammeistargetingpumpsbyandbyresultingintonnesof



displacedInadditiontodisplacingfossilfuelssolarpumpsfreechildrenandwomenfromthe

time-consumingtaskofmanuallypumpingandcarryingwaterwhilealsoresultinginemployment

generationfrommanufacturingassemblyrepairsandsalesofpumps

Toensuretheadoptionofsolarpumpingsolutionsﬁnancingschemessuchascreditmechanisms

needtobeinplaceaswellascapacity-buildingprogrammestoensurethattechnicalskillsareavailable

for system maintenance needs over time Moreover a keyrisk is the possibility of over-pumping

Althoughgroundwaterrepresentsaninvaluablesourceofirrigationwaterithasproventobedicult

toregulateLocallyintensiveandcontinuousgroundwaterwithdrawalscouldexceedratesofnatural

replenishmentwhichwouldhavenegativeconsequencesforlocalandglobalfoodproductionand

thereforeneedtobemanagedadequately

Source: REEEP, 2014; FAO, 2014b

IRENA56

country’smilliondieselpumpsetsbereplaced

with solar systems it could lead to savings

of nearly  GW worth of installed capacity

billionunitsofelectricitybillionlitresof

diesel and  million tonnes of CO



emissions

(CEEW)Indiahasalsorecentlyannounced

asolarenergy-basedpumppipedwatersupply

programme to deploy   solar pumps in

select tribal and backward districts to expand

access to piped water (Indian Ministry of New

andRenewableEnergy)

» UndertheMoroccanGreenPlan(PlanMarocain

Vert) the government-owned bank Crédit

Agricole of Morocco will distribute a USD

milliongranttoinstallsolarpumps

by(IFC)

» InSouthAfricawhereofagri-energyuse

comesfromdieselsolarpumpingrepresentsa

USD  million market assuming just a 

conversionofthetraditionalpumpsets

currentlydeployed(IFC)

» Tunisia’sRenewableEnergyplanincluded

measures to develop renewable energy in

the agricultural sector with  large water-

pumpingstationsforirrigationsystemspowered

byhybridtechnologies(REN)

The large-scale adoption of solar-based water

pumps is still hindered by a variety of factors

The relatively high capital cost of solar pumping

systems is a key barrier requiring end-users to

have access to aordable credit or other forms

of ﬁnancial support Other challenges include

initial inertia associated with introducing new

technologiesestablishingdistributionchannelsfor

technologyandpost-salesservicesandensuring

adequatetrainingforinstallersandoperators

There is also evidence of risks that solar-based

pumping poses for water resources In India

and China for instance where a substantial

number of solar PV-based pumping systems

have been deployed additional risk associated

withexcessivewaterusehasemergedSincethe

operationalcostofPVpumpsisnegligibleandthe

availabilityofenergyispredictableitcouldresult

inoverdrawingofwaterTomitigatethisriskmany

of the solar pumping promotion programmes

package ﬁnancial support with deployment of

dripirrigationtechnologyAlthoughdripirrigation

technology can improve the eciency of water

use it also is more capital and energy intensive 

maynotbethemostsuitableirrigationoptionfor

allcontextsandmaylimittheamountofwaterthat

seapstoacquiferswhichcouldinturnreducethe

replenishmentofgroundwatersources

In more developed contexts water utilities are

increasingly exploring ways to reduce energy

consumption and enhance the resilience of their

supply networks Improving eciency of water

supplyinfrastructurebyﬁxingleakagesisamong

themosteectivewaystoreduceexpenditureon

energyEnergycostsaccountforthelargestshare

of a water utility’s operating budget – as much

astobysomeestimates(Atkinsonnd

ESMAP )Variation inthe cost ofelectricity

supply introduces risks for the cost structures

of water utilities especially in contexts where

decision-makingprocessesforwaterandelectricity

pricingareindependentTodecouplewatersupply

from external energy inputs several utilities are

beginningtointroducerenewableenergysolutions

alongdierentstagesofthesupplychainBox

givesexamplesoftwowaterutilitiesintheUnited

States that have deployed solar technologies

to meet part of their electricity needs for water

pumping and to improve the reliability of their

supply

Powering desalination

Desalination technologies will play an increasing

roleinbridgingthewatergapinmanycountries

There are   desalination plants operational

worldwide today with a total operating capacity

of  million m



 per day Desalination capacity

is poised for substantial growth in the coming

decadesascountriesexplorealternatesolutionsto

meetgrowingwaterdemandIntheMENAregion

forinstancetheshortageofwater(approximately

billionm



)willbemetmostlythroughdesalination

by  (World Bank ) The expansion of

desalinationwillrequireacarefulconsiderationof

itssocialeconomicandenvironmentalimpactsas

wellasitsassociatedenergydemand

Desalination is the most energy-intensive

water production technique available today

It consumes at least  TWh of electricity

per year equivalent to around  of global

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE NEXUS

BOX 2.3

WATER UTILITIES GOING RENEWABLE

The case of water utilities in the United States and South Africa

IntheUnitedStatestheValleyCenterMunicipalWaterDistrict(VCMWD)whichhasaservicearea

ofoverkm



inSanDiegoCountyCaliforniaannouncedtheinstallationofaMWsolarpower

systeminThesystemprovidesGWhperyearosettinguptooftheelectricityrequired

bytheutility’slargestpumpingstationTheprojectwasﬁnancedthrougha-yearpowerpurchase

agreementwithadeveloperandVCMWDprocurestheelectricitygeneratedbythesystematarate

belowtheutility’sprice

TheIdyllwildWaterDistrict(IWD)nearPalmSpringsCaliforniadeployedakWsolarPVsystem

torunhorsepowerofpumpingcapacityfordierentwellpumpsandboostermotorsrangingin

sizefromtohorsepowerThesystemprovidesofthedistrict’selectricityThemainvalueof

thesystemisinincreasingthereliabilityofwatersupplyIntimesofhighwindspeedstheelectricity

utilityusedtogiveIWDonly-minutes’noticewhenitwouldshutoelectricitysothattrees

fallingonpowerlinesdidnotstartﬁresWithoutelectricityIWDwasunabletopumpdrinkingwater

toitscustomersunlessitresortedtoback-updieselpowergenerationInadditionIWDwouldreceive

requestsfromtheelectricityutilitytoshutdownpumpstoensuregridreliabilitySwitchingtosolar

hasallowedtheutilitytoshielditselffrommanysuchdynamicsthatcanaectitsreliabilityofsupply

ThesolarsystemalsobringsincreditsforIWDbyfeedingbackpowerintothegridthatcanbeutilised

whennight-timepumpingisnecessary

InSouthAfricaeThekwiniWaterandSanitationisautilitythatservesovermillionpeoplelivingin

theDurbanmetropolitanareaWithactivesupportfromREEEPtheutilityistakingeortstoidentify

tangibleandproﬁtableopportunitiestoinstallmini-hydroplantsrangingfromkWtoMWon

existingwatersupplyinfrastructureInsteadofusingpressure-reducingvalvesinpipesrunningdown

steephillsidesthecompanyisinstallingminiturbinesusingtheexcesspressuretogeneratepower

forthecity’slow-tensiongridInthismannertheprojectaimstorealisethepotentialforrenewable

energy in water treatment and supply maximise overall beneﬁts from the infrastructure and its

impactsreducegreenhousegasemissionsandprovideareplicablemodelforotherregionalwater

managers nationwideIt would also allowthe processframeworktobeshared with othercouncil

areasincludingruralareasofnorthernKwazulu-Natalwherewaterandpoweravailabilityislimited

Source: Breslin, n.d.; IWD, n.d.; REEEP, 2014

electricityconsumption(UNWaterc)Most

oftheenergyrequiredfordesalinationpresently

comes from fossil fuels with less than  of

capacity dependent on renewables (IRENA and

IEA-ETSAP)Asthenumberofdesalination

plants increases dependence on fossil fuels is

no longer sustainable from an economic and

environmental perspective Considering that

energy and water pricing frameworks in most

countriesdonotreﬂectthefullproductioncosts

the burden on governments of using expensive

desalinationtechniqueswilllikelyincreasefurther

Renewable energy technologies oer the

opportunity to decouple water production from

fossilfuelsupplyMajordesalinationtechnologies

consist of thermal processes using either

thermal power or electricity as energy input

or membrane-based processes that use only

electricity (see box  for an overview of the

major desalination technologies) Depending on

the desalination technology there are dierent

waysinwhich renewableenergycanprovide the

thermalorelectricityinputsFigureillustrates

the potential pathways for integrating dierent

renewable energy technologies with desalination

technologies As seen in box  the type and

intensity of energy required for desalination

depends on the technology adopted and hence

IRENA58

BOX 2.4

SUMMARY OF MAJOR DESALINATION TECHNOLOGIES

Thermaldesalinationtechnologiesinvolvedistillationprocesseswheresalinefeed-waterisheatedto

vapourcausingfreshwatertoevaporateandleavebehindahighlysalinesolution(brine)

•TheMulti-stageﬂash(MSF)processisdividedintosectionsorstagesSalinewaterisheatedatthe

boilingtemperaturewithadecreasingpressurethroughthestagesPartofthewaterﬂashes(quickly

vaporises)ateachstagewhiletherestcontinuestoﬂowthroughtheremainingstagesBecause

theMSFprocesscanbepoweredbywasteorby-productheatitenablesthecombinedproduction

(cogeneration)ofpowerheatanddesalinatedwater

•Multi-eectdistillation(MED)similartoMSFisamulti-stageprocesswhereinvapourfromeach

vessel(stage)iscondensedinthefollowingvesselandvaporisedagainatreducedambientpressure

MEDunlikeMSFallowsthefeed-watertobeprocessedwithouttheneedtosupplyadditionalheat

forvaporisationateachstage

•Thevapourcompression(VC)distillationprocesswheretheheatforwaterevaporationcomesfrom

compressionratherthanfromdirectheatinggenerallyisusedincombinationwithotherprocesses

suchasMEDtoimproveoveralleciency

Membranedesalinationtechnologiesusemembranestoseparatefreshwaterfromsalinefeed-water

Feed-waterisbroughttothesurfaceofamembranewhichselectivelypasseswaterandexcludessalts

•Reverse osmosis (RO) involves passing saline water through a semi-permeable membrane at a

pressuregreaterthantheosmoticpressuretherebyleavingthesolidsaltparticlesbehindROplants

areverysensitivetothefeed-waterquality(salinityturbiditytemperature)whileotherdistillation

technologiesarenotassensitive

•Electrodialysis (ED) is another membrane processes that uses electrical potential to move salt

throughthemembrane leavingfreshwaterbehind CurrentlyEDisusedwidelyfordesalinating

brackishwaterratherthanforseawater

ThedominantdesalinationprocessesinusetodayareROandMSF(seeﬁgure)

60%27%

3.6%

0.8%

0.3%

Reverse osmosis

Multi-stage ﬂash

Multi-eect distillation

Electrodialysis

Hybrid

Electrodeionization

Others

Figure 2.3 Desalination capacity by technology

Source: IRENA and IEA-ETSAP, 2012;

IDA in Koschikowski, 2011

speciﬁc pairings between renewable energy and

desalinationtechnologies haveemerged such as

PVorwindreverseosmosis(RO)andCSPmulti-

eectdesalination(MED)

Renewable energy-based desalination covers a

wide array of technologies that are at various

stagesoftechnologicaldevelopmentandaddress

dierent market segments Figure  compares

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

Solar and wind resources

Solar Wind

Solar thermal

Electricity

Heat Shaft ElectricityShaft Electricity

MVC RO ED MVC ROTVC MED MSFRO ED MVC MVC RO ED MVC RO

Figure 2.4 Pathways for integrating solar and wind resources with different desalination technologies

Source: Karaghouli, Renne and Kazmerski (2009)

Note: MED = multi-effect desalination, MSF = multi-stage flash, TVC = thermal vapour compression, ED = electrodialysis, RO = reverse

osmosis, MVC = mechanical vapour compression

the main renewable energy-based desalination

technologiesbasedonthedevelopmentstageand

typical capacity scale As such solar stills solar

PV and wind-based RO plants are commercially

available and deployed at scale Most of the

renewables-baseddesalinationcapacitydeployed

todayisbasedonsolarROtechnology(IRENAand

IEA-ETSAP)

APPLICATIONS

SOLAR STILLS

SOLAR

PHOTOVOLTAIC-

REVERSE OSMOSIS

WIND - REVERSE

OSMOSIS

WIND - VAPOUR

COMPRESSION

SOLAR

MEMBRANE

DESTILLATION

SOLAR ORGANIC

RANKINE

CYCLE - REVERSE

OSMOSIS

WAVE -REVERSE

OSMOSIS

CONCENTRADED

SOLAR

POWER - MULTI

EFFECT

DISTILLATION

SOLAR MULTI

EFFECT

HUMIDIFICATION

ADVANCED

R&D

BASIC

RESEARCH

SOME

LITRES

PER DAY

SOME

CUBIC METERS

PER DAY

HUNDREDS

OF CUBIC METERS

PER DAY

THOUSANDS

OF CUBIC METERS

PER DAY

DEVELOPMENT STAGE

TYPICAL CAPACITY RANGE

Figure 2.5 Development stage and capacity range of the main renewable energy-based desalination

technologies

Source: ProDes, 2010

IRENA60

The speciﬁc aspect of renewable energy-based desalination in island contexts will be dealt with in greater detail in IRENA and Fraun-

hofer ISE’s forthcoming publication, Technology Options for Renewable Desalination on Islands.

BOX 2.5

SOLAR-POWERED REVERSE OSMOSIS DESALINATION PLANT: VILLAGE-LEVEL

INTERVENTION

NearlyvillagessurroundIndia’sSambharLakealargesaltwaterlakethatdrivestheruraleconomy

whichreliesonsaltproductionSalinitylevelsarehighanddespitesigniﬁcantevaporationthewater

remainstoobrackishtodrinkortouseforcookingandcleaning

Asolar-basedROplantwassetupatKotriasmallvillageoffamiliesintheAjmerDistrictof

RajasthanTheplantmeetsthedrinkingwaterneedsofmorethanresidentsfromKotriand

surroundingvillagesThebrackishwaterfromSambharLakeispumpedthroughtheROplantand

storedinalitretankTheROplantrunsonakWpowerplantthatallowsittoproduce

litresofwateranhourforsixhourseachdayreducingthesalinitylevelsenoughtomakethe

watersafeforconsumption

Thevillagealthoughconnectedtothegridreceiveserraticpowersupply(oftennomorethanthree

hoursperday)IntegratingROplantswithsolarensuresanuninterruptedsupplyofelectricityforsix

hoursincludingpowertospareforrunningacomputerasolarworkshopfansandlight

Source: Barefoot College, n.d.

Such technologies are generally deployed at

the community level (see box ) but they are

increasingly being deployed at a larger scale for

islandapplications



Additionalusesareemerging

in the food sector with seawater desalination

meetingwaterneedsforirrigationinaridregions

(see box ) An area of substantial research is

theuseofCSP-baseddesalinationwhichhasthe

potentialtocatertolargewaterneedsespecially

intheMENAregion

Concentrated solar power (CSP) with thermal

energy storage shows signiﬁcant potential for

combined production of electricity and fresh

water in the MENA region If used CSP-based

desalinationcouldbecomeamajorsourceofwater

in the MENA region potentially accounting for

about  of total waterproduction in  and

in(DLR)Thebeneﬁtsoeredby

CSP-baseddesalinationinclude

» BydesignCSPplantscollectsolarradiationand

provide high-temperature heat for electricity

generationmakingitpossibletointegratethem

withbothmembranedesalinationtechnologies

suchasROandthermaldesalinationunits

» CSP plants can be equipped with thermal

storage systems This allows cogeneration

plants to better cope with the dierent load

proﬁlesofwaterandelectricitydemandwithout

aectingplanteciency

Despite tremendous potential the development

of large-scale CSP-based desalination plants has

limitationsthatneedtobeovercomeThesmooth

and ecient coupling of existing desalination

technology with CSP plants is a technological

challenge (World Bank ) Most utility-scale

desalination technologies require continuous

energy supply which CSP plants can provide

when equipped with thermal storage systems

andorcombinedwithconventionalpowerplants

for hybrid operation Desalinated water itself

can provide a storage opportunity in the case

of electricity generation exceeding the demand

(IRENAandIEA-ETSAP)

Fromaneconomicpointofviewcontinuedfocus

on research development and innovation is

necessarytoreducecostsincreasereliabilityand

demonstratetheeectivenessofthetechnologyin

sustainablymeetingwaterandenergyneeds

Energy is the largest single expense for

desalinationplantsrepresentingasmuchashalfof

theproduction cost(Herndon )In general

desalination based on renewable energy sources

isstillexpensive whencomparedtoconventional

desalination(seeﬁgure)

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

With decreasing renewable energy technology

costs technology advances and increasing scale

of deployment renewable desalination is likely

to become signiﬁcantly more cost eective and

to represent a key solution to mitigate growing

developmentrisksposedbyresourceconstraints

The competitiveness of renewable desalinationis

furtherenhancedwhenvolatilefossilfuelcostsare

takenintoaccount

Desalination plants are already proving cost

eective in remote regions where the cost of

deliveringfossilfuel-basedenergyishigh(Shatat

WorallandRiat)InMilosIsland(Greece)

forexampleaROdesalinationplantconstructed

in  integrates wind energy The plant is

designed to cover the island’s rising demand

for potable water and to supply high-quality

water on a -hour basis at a lower cost than

beforetheplant’sestablishmentUtilisinglocally

sourced wind energy has meant that the island

does not have to rely on expensive ship-based

deliveries of water and fuels from the mainland

(Regions)

Countries are increasingly recognising the

opportunity for deploying renewable-powered

desalination In  Saudi Arabia announced

the King Abdullah Initiative for Solar Water

Desalinationwhichaimstoenhancethecountry’s

watersecurityandsupportthenationaleconomy

by developing low-cost solar-based desalination

technology(seebox)TheUAEisalsoassessing

solarpowerfordesalinationInMayMasdar

signed contracts for four pilot projects that use

highly energy-ecient membrane technologies

BOX 2.6

SOLAR THERMAL-BASED GREENHOUSE DEVELOPMENT

Meeting water, energy and food security objectives

Inaridenvironmentswherefreshwaterisinshortsupplyanddomesticfoodsecurityisaconcernthe

developmentofgreenhousesisbeingseenasakeyopportunityGreenhousescanproducethesame

yieldsasopenfarmingbutusingonlyofthewater(Masudi)Tomakeprojectsmoreviable

solarpowercanbeusedtorunthegreenhousesandprovidebothenergyandwaterneeds

One such technology is the Sundrop System which harnesses solar thermal energy to desalinate

seawatertoproducefreshwaterforirrigationtoproduceelectricitytopoweragreenhouseandto

providetheenergytoheatandcoolthegreenhouse(Saumweber)Moreovernutrientsthatend

upasby-productsfromthedesalinationprocesscanbeconvertedintofertiliserthatinturncanbe

usedwithinthegreenhouse(Kaye)

Suchsystemscanhaveacompetitiveadvantageovertraditionalgreenhousesthatgenerallyarevery

energyintensiveandrelyprimarilyonfossilfuelstoregulatetheinteriorclimateBuildingasolarﬁeld

andthenecessaryauxiliaryequipmentfordesalinationheatingandcoolingprovidestheprojectwith

freeclimatecontrolandwaterthroughoutitslifetimeTheupfrontcostsofsolar-basedgreenhouses

areknowntobelowerthanthepresent-valueannualcostoffossilfuelsfortraditionalgreenhousesin

thesamelocation(Saumweber)Thesesystemscanbelocatedonmarginallandinregionswith

highsunshinepossiblybetweenthedesertandoceanwhereclimaticconditionsaresuitable

TheAustralianGovernment’sCleanEnergyFinanceCorporationisco-ﬁnancingtheconstructionof

a-hectaregreenhousefacilityinPortAugustathatwhencompletedinwillhaveacapacity

toproducelitresofdesalinatedwaterperdayandovertonnesofvegetablesayear

formetropolitanmarketsacrossAustralia(WWFandCEEW)Suchtechnologysolutionscan

bereplicatedintheMiddleEastwhichfacesextremeconstraintsonarablelandandwaterresources

andisexperiencingfoodsecurityrisksInsuchregionsthecost-eectivenessofsolardesalinationis

enhancedwhenirrigationuseiscombinedwithclimatecontrolorelectricityproduction(Saumweber

)

IRENA62

toproducearound  m



ofwaterperday If

successful they are expected to pave the way

for renewable energy to power electricity-driven

desalinationatalargescale

Water heating

Heatingwaterfordomesticandcommercialuseis

amongthemostenergy-intensivepartsofthewater

cycle(PlappalyandLienhardV)Onaverage

water heating constitutes  of household

energyuseinEuropeintheUnitedStatesand

around  in Japan (Leonardo Energy )

In developing countries water heating is often

the most energy-intensive process and accounts

for a relatively high share of the energy budget

Dependingontheenergysourceused(electricity

naturalgasoil)waterheatingcanmakeupover

 of the total energy inputs along the water

cycle (from source to end-use to treatment)

for households and business (based on data

from Plappaly and Lienhard V ) Moreover

substantial use of electricity for water heating

canincreasepeakdemandhavingadestabilising

impact on the power system and represents an

inecient energy-conversion process especially

in developing countries where transmission and

distributiongridlossescanbehigh

Renewable energy sources such as geothermal

andsolararebeingadoptedincreasinglytoreplace

Solar Stills Solar Multi Eect

Humidiﬁcation

Solar Membrane

Distillation

Solar/CSP MED PV RO Wind RO Geothermal MED

USD per cubic metre

Fossil fuel desalination cost

Figure 2.6 Technology cost comparison of renewable energy-based desalination versus fossil fuel-based plants

Source: Based on IEA-ETSAP and IRENA, 2012 and CEBC, 2013

The system, which is planned to provide about 15000 MWh per year, consists of 2982 collectors with a total solar thermal capacity of

26 MWth (37573 m) and a 61700 m seasonal pit heat storage. Its output will meet half of the annual heat demand of the plant’s 1350

customers (Solarthermalworld, 2014).

electricityandfossilfueluseforwaterheatingIn

particulartheglobalcapacityofsolarwaterheating

grewtogigawatts-thermal(GW

)in(see

ﬁgure)Mostsolarthermalsystemsareusedfor

domesticwaterheatingwheretheytypicallymeet

-ofdemandEmergingapplicationsinclude

deployment of larger water heating systems for

communitycentreshospitalshotelsetcaswell

asofhybridsystemsthatprovidebothwaterand

spaceheating

Hybrid systems are common across Europe

representing about  of installed systems in

AustriaandGermanyDistrictheatingsystemsthat

relyonsolarthermaltechnologyandthatareoften

combined with other renewable heat sources

suchasbiomassarealsorisinginprominenceAt

least  plants larger than  kilowatts-thermal

wereconstructedinandtheworld’slargest

solar district heating plant began operating in

Dronninglund Denmark



 in early  (REN

)

Globallysolarwaterheatingtechnologiesalready

have realised substantial energy and emissions

savings In  gross solar thermal collector

yield totalled  TWh worldwide with the

majority()ofthisgoingtodomestichotwater

applications The annual energy savings in 

amountedtoTWhormilliontonnesof

oilequivalent(seeﬁgure)(IEASHC)

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

BOX 2.7

SAUDI ARABIA:

KING ABDULLAH INITIATIVE FOR SOLAR WATER DESALINATION

Desalinationisregardedasastrategicchoicetomeetgrowingdemandforwaterinanenvironmentof

scarceconventionalwatersourcesThehighcostofenergyusedindesalinationplantsistheprimary

causeofhigherwaterproductioncostsInSaudiArabia’scasemanyofthedesalinationplantsthat

presentlygenerateovermillionm



ofdrinkingwater(equivalenttomorethanoftheglobaldaily

desalinationoutput)consumevaluableoilresourcesGiventhecountry’sabundantsolarresources

utilisingsolarenergyfordesalinationcanreducethecostofenergyinputsandinturnthecostofwater

production

TheKingAbdullahInitiativeforSolarWaterDesalinationisa keyinitiativeoftheNationalPlan for

ScienceTechnologyandInnovationledbyKingAbdulazizCityforScienceandTechnology

Theinitiativeistobeexecutedinfourphases

•Buildingadesalinationplantpoweredbysolarenergywithacapacityofm



perdayofwater

tomeetthedrinkingwaterneedsofAlKhadjicityTheprojectwilluseMWsolarsystemsaswell

asdomesticallydevelopedmembranes

•Buildingadesalinationplantcapableofproducingm



ofdrinkingwaterperdayenoughto

meettheneedsofmillioninhabitants

•Buildingaseriesofsolar-powereddesalinationplantsinvariouspartsofthecountry

•Implementingtheinitiativeintheagriculturalsector

Source: KACST, 2014

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013

Data are for solar water collectors only (not including air collectors)

World total

326 Gigawatts-thermal

Glazed collectors Unglazed collectors World total

250

200

350

300

150

100

Figure 2.7 Solar water heating collectors global capacity, 2000-2013

Source: REN21, 2014

IRENA64

The cost of heat production depends on the

technology deployed as well as on the size and

locationoftheinstallationsolarwaterheatersare

generally competitive with electricity and gas-

basedheating(seeﬁgure)InEuropethemost

cost-eective solar thermal application is solar

districtheatinginDenmarkwhereheatpricesas

lowasUSDMWh

canbereachedforground-

mountedcollectorﬁeldsofsquaremetres



)andmore(IEAb)

Aswithmostrenewableenergytechnologiessolar

water heating systems are upfront-cost heavy

meaning that the ratio of capital to operational

costisrelativelyhighercomparedtoconventional

systems Over a life cycle however solar water

heaters are markedly cheaper In China solar

waterheaterscostanestimatedtimeslessthan

electricwaterheatersandlessthangasheaters

overthelifetimeofthesystem(REN)In

SouthAfricasolarwaterheatingsystemstypically

paybackwithinﬁveyears(Eskom)

Many governments have pursued ambitious

programmes to promote solar water heating to

reduce electricity and fuel demand improve

energy services and build a domestic industry

China has the world’s highest installed capacity

of solar water heaters accounting for nearly

two-thirdsofglobalcapacityBetweenand

installationsincreasednearly-foldfrom

millionm



tomorethanmillionm



(IRENA

a)InBrazilhadoverGWthofsolar

waterheatingcapacitydeployedaimingtoavoid

theequivalentofGWofadditionalelectricity

capacity(IEASHCREEEP)

Several programmes have been launched to

support market development including Minha

Casa Minha Vida (“My House My Life”) which

alongwithseveralmunicipalbuildingcodes(eg

São Paolo Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre)

mandatessolarwaterheaterstobebuiltinnew

housingforlow-incomefamilies(IRENA b

Cardoso)

InTunisiathePROSOLprogrammelaunchedin

hascontributedtoanear-foldincrease

in installations from  to  producing a

market turnover of USD  million in  for

the country’s solar thermal industry A nascent

domestic industry has sprung up with 

solar water heater suppliers (of which  are

manufacturers)andoverqualiﬁedinstallers–

creatingatotalofdirectjobssincethestart

ofPROSOL(REN)

South Africa targets replacing   gigawatt-

hours (GWh) of current electricity generation by

27.5

22.5

17.5

12.5

7.5

2.5

Europe

US/

Canada

Asia

(excl. China)

Latin

America

MENA

Australia

Sub-Saharan

Africa

WorldChina

Solar combi systems

Swimming pool heating Large domestic

hot water systems

Domestic hot water systems

for single family houses

Energy savings (Mtoe)

16.1

3.9

1.3

1.1

0.8 0.7

0.5

0.1

24.5

Figure 2.8 Annual energy savings in oil equivalent from unglazed and glazed water collectors in operation

by the end of 2012

Source: IEA SHC, 2014

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

switchingelectricwaterheatingsystemstosolar

whileislandcountriessuchasCyprusareadopting

solar waterheatingtoreducethe cost ofenergy

supply and enhance energy security Cyprus has

thehighestsolarwaterheatingcapacityinstalled

percapitagloballyMorethanofhouseholds

and  of hotels are equipped with solar water

heating systems and nearly   m



of solar

thermal collectors are installed (Epp )

Thesehavecontributedtoincreasingtheshareof

renewablesintheenergymixfrominto

almostinthusreducingdependenceon

foreignimportstomeetdomesticenergydemand

(IRENAc)

2.2.2 Water for energy production

Wateruseforenergyproductionrepresentsacritical

elementofthewater–energynexusAshighlighted

inchapterenergyproductiongloballyaccounts

for about  of total freshwater withdrawals

second only to agriculture The energy system

oftoday dominated byoil coalandnatural gas

is water intensive in nature requiring substantial

water inputs for fuel extraction processing

transport transformation end-use and where

applicabledecommissioning Although measures

arebeingtakenwithintheenergysectortoreduce

water use the availability and accessibility of

water resources will remain a key constraint as

the sector scales to meet growing demand This

section delves deeper into the overall impact of

a transforming energy mix on the water–energy

nexusbasedontheliteratureandonpreliminary

quantitativeanalysisconductedbyIRENA

Water intensity of different energy technologies

Evaluatingthewaterintensityofdierentenergy

technologies requires an understanding of water

inputs along the dierent stages of the energy

supply chain As illustrated in ﬁgure  the

energy supply chain can be divided into three

basic stages fuel extraction processing and

transportation energy transformation (eg

generation of electricity) and end-use The

impacts on withdrawal consumption and quality

ofwaterresourcesalongthesedierentstagesis

dictatedbyhowwhereandwhatenergysources

characterisethesupplychainaswellasbyother

factors such as the technology choice water

sourceandfueltype

Renewable energy resources are often freely

available and require minimal fuel extraction

reﬁning or transportation Water inputs for

solar wind geothermal tidal and hydropower

0 100 200 300

USD/MWh

Electricity heating

Gas heating

District healing (central Europe)

Large-scale system (southern United States)

Industr. process heat (south and central Europe)

Hot water and space heating (central Europe)

Hot water, pumped (central and northern Europe)

Hot water, thermosiphon (southern Europe)

Hot water, thermosiphon (China)

400

Conventional

Solar thermal

Figure 2.9 Solar heat production costs compared with electricity and natural gas-based heating in

different regions

Source: IEA, 2014

IRENA66

development during these stages can be

considered negligible



 Bioenergy however

requires water inputs for feedstock production

processingandtransportationThesewaterinputs

varydependingonwhetherirrigationisnecessary

andifsoontheirrigationmethodadoptedcrop

type local climatic conditions and technology

choices (see ﬁgure ) Irrigated feedstock

productionforexamplecouldrequiresubstantial

volumesofwaterwhereasrain-fedproductionor

agricultural and forestry residues may not be as

waterintensive

Evenwhenconsideringtherangesforwaterinputs

bioenergy feedstock production could drive a

substantial increase in overall water demand

depending on energy and climate scenarios

(Chaturvedi et al ) However impacts of

bioenergy production on water availability and

quality could be managed by implementing

judiciouswaterpolicyinstrumentsandlegislation

for both feedstock production and energy

conversion as well as by eectively monitoring

the competition between sectoral uses of water

(UNEP)Atthesametimecontinuedfocus

onthedevelopmentoftechnologiesandprocesses

is necessary to enhance the water eciency

of traditional bioenergy production and to tap

into other forms of feedstocks such as second-

generationfuelsandalgaewhichmayhavelower

waterneeds(IRENAandIEA-ETSAP)

Developingnuclearenergyandfossilfuelssuchas

oil natural gas and coal involves fuel extraction

including mining and drilling requiring water

A broad range of literature which takes into

account dierent geography geology extraction

methodsandwell-depletionlevelsestimatesthat

oil extraction requires - litres per million

Btu for drilling ﬂooding and treatment (Water

in the West ) Water requirements for

conventional oil extraction are relatively minor

Secondary recovery techniques that use water

ﬂoodingtosupportreservoirpressurehavewater

needsabouttimesthoseofprimaryrecovery

Similarly producing synthetic crude oil from oil

sandsiscomparativelymorewaterintensive(IEA

)Onaverageoilextractionprocessingand

transport uses more water than for natural gas

coal or uranium (Wu et al  Gleick 

NREL ) as also conﬁrmed in IEA’s World

EnergyOutlook(seeﬁgure)

Shale gas development generally requires

substantially more water than conventional gas

with speciﬁcs depending on the gas recovery

Resource

Extraction

Mining, drilling

(oil, natural gas)

Biomass

Raw material

Reﬁning

Coal, petrol

natural gas

uranium, biofuels

Wastewater

collection

treatment and

discharge or reuse

Renewable

energy

Wind, solar

hyroelectric, tidal

Transportation fuels, natural gasNote: Water inputs and outputs may be in dierent water bodies.

Transport &

transmission

Pipelines

waterways

Water Source

(e.g., lakes, rivers,

aquiﬁers, sea)

Energy recycling

Cogeneration,

desalination

Discharge water

Energy

generation

End-use

Industrial

Commercial

Public Utilities

Transportation

Figure 2.10 Flow chart of embedded water in energy

Source: Water in the West, 2013

Water inputs may also be necessary to extract raw materials, develop the infrastructure and manufacture the equipment to tap into the

resources such as solar panels, turbines, constructing wells or dams, conducting resource assessment, etc.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

rates the number of hydraulic fracturing

treatmentsperformedandtheuseoftechnologies

for water recycling (IEA ) There are also

concernsaboutcontaminationofwaterresources

speciﬁcallytheleakageoffracturingﬂuidssaline

waterorhydrocarbonsintogroundwatersupplies

andthedisposalofwastewaterSimilarconcerns

arisefromtheuseofwaterforcoalproductionand

washing(acommonpracticetoraisethequalityof

coalandhencepowerplanteciency)

During the energy generation stage thermal

powerplantsare themostwater-intensiveusers

requiring water mostly for cooling These plants

are based primarily on fossil fuels such as coal

and natural gasaswell asonnuclear and some

renewables such as geothermal and CSP The

amount of water withdrawn and consumed per

unitofelectricitygenerateddependsheavilyonthe

coolingtechnologyemployed



Onthe onehand

once-throughcoolingtechnologieswithdrawto

timesmorewaterperunitofelectricgeneration

Conventional gas

Coal

Shale gas

Reﬁned oil (conventional)

Reﬁned oil (oil sands)

Gas-to-liquids

Coal-to-liquids

Reﬁned oil (EOR)

Lignocellulosic ethanol

Palm oil biodiesel

Rapeseed biodiesel

Soybean biodiesel

Corn ethanol

Sugarcane ethanol

litres per toe

Withdrawal

Consumption

Figure 2.11 Water withdrawal and consumption for primary fuel extraction, processing and transportation

Source: IEA, 2012

While pursuing carbon reduction goals, it also is important to consider that deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technolo-

gies at future power plants could add substantial water consumption demands. The application of a CCS system in a coal plant would

lead to an estimated 50-90% increase in water consumption (Gerdes and Nichols, 2009).

than recirculating cooling technologies On the

other hand recirculating cooling technologies

consume at least twice as much water as once-

through cooling technologies (NREL )

Overall almost all cooling technologies are

adoptedatscalegloballywithspeciﬁcapplications

dependingonthelocalavailabilityofwaterimpact

of discharge on water source quality and capital

costconsiderations

Several studies have been conducted to

quantitativelyassessthewaterintensityofdierent

electricity production technologies While some

haveundertakenananalysisatspeciﬁcstages of

energyproduction(MacknicketalaNREL

) others have considered water intensity

along the full life cycle of energy production

which includes fuel extraction processing and

transformation among other intermediate

steps (Meldrum et al MielkeAnadon and

Narayanamurti)Thesestudiesindicatethat

thereisalmostunequivocalagreementthatwind

and solar PV use practicallyno watertooperate

IRENA68

and have minimum life-cycle water usage and

hence could oset negative water consumption

trends Figure  provides a summary of the

outputstodemonstratethestanding ofdierent

energy-producing technologies as well as the

variationsfordierentcoolingtechnologieswhich

can dramatically change the water consumption

andwithdrawalfactors(Meldrumetal)

Some renewable energy technologies – such

as geothermal and CSP – use thermoelectric

generation and could require substantial amount

of water during operation For geothermal

water use estimates vary widely depending on

the technology and whether water required for

cooling is sourced externally or drawn from on-

site geothermal ﬂuids When geothermal ﬂuids

areincludedinwaterneedsforoperationalwater

requirements estimates for water consumption

range from  to   litres per MWh and

higherinsomecases(DaviesetalMeldrin

et al )CSP is found to be water intensive

during the operations stage particularly where

steam turbines are the prime mover and water

consumption levels (up to   litres per MWh)

are comparable to conventional thermoelectric

powerplants(Burkhardtetal)

Technology choicestoreduce thewaterdemand

areavailableforexampletheuseofdrycooling

systems can reduce total water consumption

byas much as  as evident fromﬁgure 

Such systems are being increasingly deployed in

Morocco the United Arab Emirates the United

States and South Africa Studies ﬁnd that dry-

cooled CSP power plants are an attractive

economic and technical option in sites with

signiﬁcantly high direct normal irradiance (DNI)

values (Liqreina and Qoaider ) As such

wet-cooledplantsaremoreecientandatrade-

o exists between the cooling technology and

levelisedcostofgenerationAstudybyanIndian

electricity regulator found that the most water-

ecienttechnologiesreduceconsumptionby

but result in an - increase in the electricity

tari (CEEW and NRDC ) Nevertheless

therehasbeenaconsistentpushwithinthesector

to promote water eciency measures and to

encourage innovation in developing improved

storageandmorewater-ecientcoolingsystems

toallowthetechnologytofulﬁlitspotential

In the process of hydropower generation water

losses occur due to evaporation from holding

reservoirsOnceevaporationisaccountedforlarge

hydropower can be very water intensive (Mielke

Anadon and Narayanamurti ) However

water held could be used for multiple purposes

such as irrigation water supply ﬂood control

or recreation in addition to power generation

Therefore allocating the entire evaporation from

reservoirs to electricity generation may not be

entirely accurate Small hydropower and run-

of-the-river technology may evade the need for

creating large dams avoiding the large amounts

ofwaterevaporationandsocio-economicimpacts

associatedwithlargehydropower

Assessing the energy-system-level impacts of

renewable energy deployment on water use

The previous section demonstrated that from a

“litres per MWh” point of view some renewable

energytechnologiesoercomparativeadvantages

over conventional generation technologies The

focusnowshiftstoanenergy-systemleveltobetter

understand whetherincreased renewable energy

deploymentcanleadtoasubstantialreductionin

waterfootprinttoaddressthewater–energynexus

indierentcontexts

Global projections that assess the impacts of

expandingrenewablesonwateruseintheenergy

sector ﬁnd that a renewables-dominated energy

systemwillbelesswaterintensivecomparedtoa

business-as-usual expansion Forinstanceunder

allthreeoftheIEA’senergysectorscenarios(IEA

) – the Current Policies Scenario the New

Policies Scenario (NPS) and the  Scenario –

waterconsumptionwillincreasebetweenand

(seeﬁgure)Meanwhilewithdrawalswill

bemorevariabledependingon trendsrelatedto

energy demand power generation mix cooling

technologiesusedandrateofbiofuelsgrowthThe

expandedroleofrenewablesintheNPS–inwhich

windgenerationishigherandsolarPVis

higherinthanintheCurrentPoliciesScenario

–contributestoreducingwaterwithdrawalsThe

 Scenario could be even less waterintensive

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

Base-case estimates for each life-cycle stage, presented in bold font, are held constant for estimating life-cycle water consumption

factors for other life-cycle stages. Estimates for production pathway variants in fuel cycle or power plant (labelled on top of the bars)

or operations (bottom) are labelled at points connected to the base-case estimate with horizontal lines. The figure also presents water

factors for different cooling technologies marked along the green bars.

Note: PV = photovoltaics; C-Si = crystalline silicone; EGS = enhanced geothermal system; CSP = concentrated solar power; CT =

combustion turbine; CC = combined cycle; IGCC = integrated gasification combined cycle and PC = pulverised coal, sub-critical.

Source: Meldrum et al., 2013

Life cycle water withdrawals (gal/MWh)

Wind:

On-shore and

O-shore

Geothermal

CSP: Power Tower

CSP: Trough

Nuclear

Natural Gas: CT

Natural Gas: CC

Coal: IGCC

Coal: PC

Other C-5

Flat Panel

Concentrated PV

Flash Binary Dry

Cooling

Binary Hybrid

Cooling

Gas Dry Cooling

Dry Cooling

Centrifugal Enrichment

Hybrid Cooling

Cooling Tower

Diusion Enrichment

Cooling Tower and

Pond Cooling

Open Loop Cooling (47,000)

Conventional Gas

Shale Gas

Conventional Gas

Shale Gas

Dry Cooling

Surface Mining

Underground Mining

Cooling Tower

Open Loop Cooling (5000)

Pond Cooling (5,000)

No Cooling

Open Loop Cooling (35,000)

Pond Cooling (10,000)

2000 400 600 800 1000 1200

Wind:

On-shore and

O-shore

Geothermal

CSP: Power Tower

CSP: Trough

Nuclear

Natural Gas: CT

Natural Gas: CC

Coal : PC

Coal : IGCC

Other C-5

Flat Panel

Flash

Binary

Dry Cooling

Binary

Hybrid Cooling

Gas Dry Cooling

Dry Cooling

Open Loop Cooling

Conventional Gas

Shale gas

Dry

Cooling

Open Loop

Cooling

Towe r

Pond Cooling

Surface Mining

Underground Mining

Cooling Tower

Life cycle water consumption (gal/MWh)

No Cooling

Conventional Gas

Pond Cooling Cooling

Towe r

Cooling Tower

Hybrid Cooling

Concentrated PV

2000 400 600 800 1000 1200

i Fuel Cycle or Power Plant

Sub-categories (top)

( 1 - base case; 1 - variant )

i Operations Sub-categories

(bottom)

(1 - base case; i - variant )

Power Plant Fuel Cycle Operations

Cooling Tower

Dry Cooling

Centrifugal Enrichment

Diusion Enrichment

Hybrid Cooling

Open Loop Cooling

Pond Cooling

Cooling Tower

Figure 2.12 Estimated life-cycle water consumption and withdrawal factors for selected electricity

generation technologies

IRENA70

owinginparttoamarkedshiftinthepowersector

awayfromcoal-ﬁredplantstowardsrenewables

Regional-levelprojectionsalsoshowcaseapositive

impact of increased renewables deployment

on water resources In the European Union for

example the European Wind Energy Association

(EWEA) estimates that wind energy avoided the

useofbillionlitresofwaterin-equivalent

to the average annual household water use of 

millionaverageEUhouseholds(EWEA)

The GCC region has among the world’s lowest

renewable water resources and the demand for

water is expected to increase ﬁvefold by 

Extractionoffossilfuelsandcoolingduringpower

generation requires withdrawal and consumption

ofwaterAstreatedwaterisneededforextraction

this results in a demand for desalination and

associatedrisks

800

600

400

200

2010

2020 2035

Withdrawals: Current Policies New Policies Scenario 450 Scenario Consumption

billion cubic metre

Figure 2.13 Global water use in the energy sector for different IEA scenarios, 2010, 2020 and 2035

Source: IEA, 2012

Saudi Arabia

Kuwait

Oman

Bahrain

Qatar

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Percentage of total water used for generation

United Arab

Emirates

20%

reduction

in water

withdrawals

in 2030

30%

Figure 2.14 Potential for reduction in water withdrawals for power generation in GCC region by 2030

Source: IRENA analysis

The analysis considers water consumption for power generation in all GCC countries and includes water use during fuel extraction only

for those countries using high shares of domestic oil resources for generation (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman). Water consumption fac-

tors for dierent technologies are derived primarily from NREL (2011), using median values. Total water use does not consider the sources

of water due to lack of available data. The analysis does not account for ﬁnancial considerations.

The GCC region is looking to develop its vast

renewable energy potential given the economic

rationale in domestic hydrocarbon savings and

associatedopportunity costs that come with the

diversiﬁcationoftheenergymixEachcountryhas

announcedarenewableenergyplan-Bahrain(

by ) Kuwait ( by ) Oman ( by

) Qatar ( by ) Saudi Arabia (GW

by ) United Arab Emirates ( by  in

AbuDhabiandbyinDubai)allofthem

incapacitytermsexceptforQatar(MoFAIRENA

andREN)Theseplansprimarilyfocuson

solarenergy

RealisingtherenewableenergyplansfortheGCC

could result in an estimated overall reduction of

andinwaterwithdrawalandconsumption

respectivelyinthepowersector



(seeﬁgure)

Thisisequivalenttoanannualreductionoftrillion

litres of water withdrawn and  billion litres of

waterconsumedAnalysisshowsthatmostofthis

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

reduction will come from the largest economy in

theregionSaudiArabiaduetoitsheavyreliance

on electricity generation from crude oil which

requiressigniﬁcantamountofwaterforextraction

andplanstoaddlargesharesofrenewableenergy

inthepowersectorItishoweverimportanttonote

thatmajorityofthepowerplantsintheregionrely

onseawatercoolingwhilecrudeoilextractionuses

treated water Depending on the technology and

other factors such as plant location renewables

may require substantially less water It should be

noted however that the water may be procured

from other water sources than those used for

conventionalgenerationThereforeashifttowards

renewableenergyneedstobeguidedbyacareful

examinationoftheopportunitiesandrisksforthe

sustainabilityofwatersourcesinspeciﬁccontexts

At a national level as lower-water-intensity

renewables expand their cumulative positive

impact on the water–energy nexus is becoming

more signiﬁcant During  electricity from

wind energy in the United States avoided the

consumption of more than  billion litres of

waterequivalenttotheannualwaterconsumption

of over   households (AWEA ) A

scenariowithwindenergyintheUSenergy

mix in  could reduce cumulative water use

inthe electricsector bynearly  (NREL )

Thereisgrowingevidencethatapathwayfocused

onrenewableenergyandenergyeciencycould

reduce carbon emissions and water eects from

thepowersector(UnionofConcernedScientists

FaethFoethandSovacool)

In China where the coal industry accounts for

more than  of total water consumption

massive renewables deployment is expected

to reduce the reliance of power generation on

water from  to under  by  (Cho

Tan)

Projectingthecumulativebeneﬁtsonwateruseof

arenewables-dominant energy systemdepends

onseveralfactorssuchasimprovementsinwater

eciency changes in cooling technologies and

the changing energy mix Preliminary analysis

is however important to gauge the overall

impacts on water use within the sector and to

mitigateconﬂictsarisingoutofcompetingneeds

with other end-uses In this report the water

footprintoftheelectricitysectorofﬁvedierent

countriesisassessedforTheanalysisuses

IRENA’sREmaproadmaps



fortwopotential

options the Reference Case and REmap 

TheReferenceCaserepresentspoliciesinplaceor

underconsiderationincluding energyeciency

improvements REmap  represents the

energymixthatwouldenableaglobaldoubling

intheshareofrenewableenergyby

The analysis presented here is based on three

fundamental inputs ) the projected electricity

mixinfromIRENA’sREmapanalysis

) the water-intensity factors available in the

literaturefordierentpowergenerationoptions

and cooling technologies



and)thecountry-

speciﬁc information available on potential shifts

in regulations governing the cooling technology

adopted type of water use and availability

The output is the total water consumption and

withdrawal for the two  cases by power

generation source (excluding hydropower)





The analysis does not account for ﬁnancial

considerations

In all countries analysed increasing renewables

penetration leads to a reduction in water

consumption and withdrawal Figure 

providesasummaryoftheresultsoftheanalysis

conducted for Australia Germany India the

UnitedKingdomandtheUnitedStates

IRENA’s REmap 2030 is a roadmap to double the share of renewable energy by 2030 – an objective within the UN’s Sustainable Energy

for All initiative. REmap analysis presently covers 75% of projected global total ﬁnal energy consumption in 2030 by analysing 26 coun-

tries. Further details are available at www.irena.org/remap.

Water consumption and withdrawal factors are based primarily on data from power plants in the United States (NREL, 2011), using me-

dian values. The analysis accounts for water used during power plant operations and does not consider water used during other stages

of fuel extraction, processing or transport. Water usage for coal, biomass, natural gas and oil thermal power plants is calculated based on

country-speciﬁc shares of power plants using once-through, closed-loop, hybrid and dry cooling systems. The mix of power plant cooling

technologies for 2030 is based on announced policies and industry trends for each country, considering shifts towards closed-loop, dry

cooling or hybrid cooling technologies in select countries for relevant energy sources. This mix for the countries analysed is reported in

the Annex.

Hydropower has been excluded from this analysis given that water consumption and withdrawal metrics for large-scale hydro plants

vary widely and can have a distorting eect on the results. Evaporative losses in reservoirs are dicult to attribute between end-uses

given the multiple purposes of the water held in catchments such as recreation, ﬂood control, power generation, irrigation and potable

water supply.

IRENA72

TheseREmapcountrieswerechosenforthis

preliminary analysis based on their geographic

and energy sector diversity relevance of the

energy–water nexus challenge and renewable

energy plans The intensity of reduction varies

substantiallydependingontheprojectedincrease

inenergydemandthefuelbeingdisplaceduntil

 and policy changes More detailed results

fromthequantitativeanalysisforeachcountryis

providedintheAnnextothisreport

Keyﬁndingsfromtheanalysisinclude

United Kingdom In REmap  total water

consumptionisestimatedtobelowerthanin

the Reference Case at  billion m



 compared

to  billion m



 For total water withdrawals

REmapalsoseesareductioncompared

totheReferenceCasewithwaterwithdrawalsof

billionm



andbillionm



respectivelyThe

reductionsinwaterconsumptionandwithdrawals

areduelargelytothelargescale-upofwindand

solar PV energy which will decrease shares of

nuclear energy and coal thermal power plants

TheseresultsareinlinewithastudybyByerset

al () comparing water use under dierent

decarbonisation pathways to  for the UK’s

electricitysector

United States In REmap  electricity

generation consumes  billion m



 of water

comparedtobillionm



intheReferenceCase

–areductionThemajorityofthisreduction

comes from substantial deployment of wind and

solar PV energy which replaces existing coal

plants and avoids new coal generating capacity

Withdrawals are  lower in REmap 

comparedtotheReferenceCasewithbillion



andbillionm



ofwithdrawalsrespectively

ThereductionincoalandnuclearinREmap

comparedtotheReferenceCaseaccountsforthe

majorityofwaterwithdrawalsavingsThisanalysis

drawssimilarconclusionstoastudybyMacknick

et al (b) simulating water consumption and

withdrawalrequirementsfordierentUSenergy

pathwaysto

GermanyTheanalysisshowslessannualwater

consumptioninREmapthanintheReference

Casewithbillionm



an d   b ill i o nm



ofw a ter 

Figure 2.15 Percentage reduction in water consumption and withdrawal between Reference Case and

REmap 2030

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

GermanyAustralia India United Kingdom United States

Withdrawal savings in REmap 2030 vs Reference Case (%)

Consumption savings in REmap 2030 vs Reference Case (%)

53% 64% 39% 61% 48%

23%40% 32% 16%

10% 16% 11% 12%

35%

23%

Share of RE in electricity mix, 2012

Share of RE in electricity mix, Reference Case

Share of RE in electricity mix, REmap 2030

Source: IRENA analysis; Share in 2012 electricity mix from IEA, 2014a.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

consumedrespectivelyThiscanbeattributedtoa

largershareofwindenergyinREmapanda

reductionintheshareofcoalpowerSimilarlytotal

water withdrawalsare lowerin REmap 

( billion m



) compared to the Reference Case

(billionm



)Waterwithdrawalsforcoalpower

comprise the large majority of total withdrawals

withthemodestshareofplantswithonce-through

cooling systems having the greatest withdrawal

amounts

Australia REmapconsumesless water

than the Reference Case at  billion m



 and

 billion m



 respectively The decrease is

caused by the larger shares of wind and solar

andthereductionincoalthermalpowerplantsin

REmap  Water withdrawals total  billion



in REmap compared tobillionm



in

theReferenceCasescenariowithsavingsof

This also can be attributed to lower shares of

electricity generated by coal and higher shares

fromsolarPVandwindinREmapcompared

totheReferenceCase

India In REmap  water consumption is

reduced by  compared to the Reference

Caseconsumingbillionm



andbillionm





respectivelyThis can beattributedtothehigher

shares of solar PV and wind with minimal water

footprintsBiomassthermalpowerhasarelatively

higher water footprint and is not estimated to

contribute substantially to reductions in water

consumptionForwaterwithdrawalsREmap

resultsinbillionm



ofwaterwithdrawnwhile

the Reference Case results in  billion m



 of

waterwithdrawn–areductionReductionsare

duetoalowershareofcoalwithhighwithdrawal

ratesfromtheshareofcoalplantsusingopen-loop

coolingtechnology

Theestimationsofreductioninwaterconsumption

and withdrawal do not consider the sources of

waterTheanalysispresentedinthisreportislimited

tocumulativewatersavingsduetolackofdataand

informationonthesourceofwatercurrentlyused

for power plant cooling Moreover the analysis

does not consider the local impacts of water

use in these countries while acknowledging that

manyofthecountriesstudiedhavehighdegrees

oflocalvariabilityinwaterresourceavailabilityA

better understanding of these aspects can help

decisionmakersinmoreaccuratelyassessingthe

impactofgrowingsharesofrenewableenergyin

the energymix on dierent water resources and

in applying physical water constraints to energy

sectorprojectionsandstrategies

2.3 RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE FOOD–

ENERGY NEXUS

Theconstituentsofthefood–energynexusprovide

insights into the dierent prisms through which

theroleofrenewableswithinthisnexusshouldbe

analysedTheseare

» Renewable energy technologies meeting

energy demand along the dierent stages of

thefoodsupplychainand

» Increasing the use of bioenergy in the global

energymix

2.3.1 The role of renewable energy in the

food supply chain

The growth in food production in past decades

has been driven largely by fossil fuel energy

inputs Increases in farm mechanisation fertiliser

production food processing and transport have

meant that the food system has emerged as

a signiﬁcant energy consumer with growing

dependence on fossil fuels (FAO b) In

its Energy Smart Food Programme the FAO

proposesathree-prongedapproachtobecoming

“energy smart” in the agri-food chainimproving

access to modern energy services enhancing

energyeciencyandgraduallyincreasingtheuse

ofrenewableenergy(FAOc)

Emphasis has been placed on the gradual

introductionof renewable energytogivepriority

to improving access to modern energy services

evenifitisthroughfossilfuelsInthelongterm

however options for increasing productivity in

agriculture may become severely limited if an

inexpensive and reliable supply of fossil fuels is

not available and if climate change impacts are

not mitigated This highlights the necessity to

gradually decouple increases in food production

fromfossilfuelavailabilityrequiringfundamental

changesinthewayenergyisproduceddistributed

andconsumedwithintheglobalfoodsystem

IRENA74

Thedeploymentofrenewableenergysystemsat

dierent stages of the food supply chain oers

several beneﬁts These include ) improved

access tomodern energy servicesparticularlyin

ruralareas)reduceddependenceonfossilfuels

)allayedenergysecurityconcerns)diversiﬁed

farm and food processing revenues ) lowered

greenhouse gas emissions and ) support for

sustainabledevelopmentgoals(FAOb)

Renewable energy can be usedeitherdirectlyto

provideenergyon-siteorindirectlybyintegrating

this energy intothe existing conventional energy

supply chain (see ﬁgure ) The distributed

nature of renewable resources means that they

can substitute fossil fuels to generate heat and

electricity ortheycanbeused astransportfuels

in farms If excess energyis produced it can be

exportedtonearbycommunitiesortothenational

grids(wherepossible)togainadditionalrevenue

This enables an integrated food–energy system

approach that links food production and natural

resource management with poverty reduction in

foodvaluechains(FAOb)

This is especially feasible in low-GDP countries

where extension of the national grid to remote

andruralareasiscostlyandmaintenanceofsuch

grid infrastructure is expensive Decentralised

renewableenergysolutionscouldnotonlysupply

energy for subsistence and small-scale farming

butalsoprovideattractiveenergysupplysolutions

for large-scale farming small and medium-sized

enterprises and industry-sized agro-processors

suchasricemillsandfruitprocessingcompanies

Thereforetheyhavethepotentialtosupportrural

economic development bringing co-beneﬁts

to farmers landowners businesses and rural

communities

For a better understanding of how renewable

energy can be integrated into the agri-food

system it is important to look at the dierent

segments production processing transport and

distribution as well as retail preparation and

cookingTheremainderofthissectionfocuseson

renewableenergyinterventionsintheproduction

processingandcookingstagesofthefoodsupply

chainwhererenewableenergyimpactsaremost

relevant

During the primary production phase direct

energyinputsarerequiredfordierentactivities

including land preparation (also referred to as

tillage) crop cultivation lifting and distributing

irrigation water The magnitude of energy use

Energy inputs (traction, electricity, mechanical, heat/cooling)

Post-Harvest and

Storage

Solar, geothermal

food drying

Solar cooling and

refrigeration

Processing

Solar, wind,

hydro-based

milling, threshing

Renewable

energy-based

electricity and

heat applications

Retail, Preparation

and Cooking

Renewable

energy-based

water puriﬁcation

Modern biomass

use for cooking

applications

Transport and

Distribution

Biofuel use for

transportation

and distribution

Solar cooling and

refrigeration

Primary Production

Solar, wind-based

water pumping

Biofuels for tractors

and on-farm

machinery

Solar-based

desalination, heating

and cooling for

protected cropping

Biomass residues

use for on-site

energy generation

Indirect renewable

energy inputs for

fertilisers

Figure 2.16 Illustration of different entry points for renewable energy into conventional energy supply systems

Source: Based on FAO, 2011b; Practical Action, 2012

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

depends on the type of farming Small-scale

subsistenceagricultureofteninvolveslittleexternal

energyinput(relyingmostlyonhumanandanimal

power) while modern large-scale agricultural

supply chains are increasingly becoming more

mechanised sophisticated and energy intensive

(FAOb)

The pace of mechanisation varies between

dierent developing regions In sub-Saharan

Africawhereuptoofprimarylandpreparation

reliesentirelyonhumanmusclepowertractoruse

has actually shrunk from  per hectare in 

to  per hectare in  Meanwhile South

Asiahasseenanincreaseintractorusefrom

per hectare of arable land in  to  per

hectarein(FAOc)Moreoverindirect

energyinputsalsoarerequiredtoaccountforthe

productionofagriculturalinputssuchasfertilisers

andpesticides

Renewableenergyresourcescanbeconvertedinto

thefullrangeofenergyusesandcarriersincluding

electricity heating cooling liquid and gaseous

biofuelsAsmechanisationofagriculturalactivities

expandsandrelianceonnon-localenergysources

growsrisksassociatedwithdisruptionofthefuel

supply or fuel price ﬂuctuations also increase

Renewable energy resources can meet energy

demandforprimaryfoodproductionbothdirectly

andindirectlyWhereadequaterenewableenergy

resourcesexisttheycanbeusedasasubstitutefor

fossilfuelstogeneratetractionheatorelectricity

foruseonfarms

Acaseinpointistheincreasing useofbiomass

resources available on-site for generating

electricity andor heat through small-scale

digesters (see box ) In the United States

nearly  anaerobic digester systems were

operatingatcommercial livestock farms mostly

on dairy farms as of January  Many of

these farm-level plants utilise a wide range

of agricultural crop residues animal and food

wastes to generate usable energy on-site in

BOX 2.8

TRANSFORMING RURAL ECONOMIES THROUGH BIOENERGY

The state of Paraná in Brazil

Small-scalefamilyfarmingrepresentsoftheagrarianstructureintheBrazilianstateofParaná

The region’s roughly  million family establishments produce almost  of the gross value of

agriculturalandlivestockproductionorofthefoodconsumedbytheBrazilianpopulationBoth

familyandindustrialfarminginBrazilhavebecomehighlydependentonchemicalinputssuchas

fertilisers overthe past four decadesmakingthemsusceptible toprice unpredictability and toa

generaldearthofsurplusfundsforinvestinginthesector’smodernisation

Giventhesubstantialamountsofsolidresiduesandotherwastesproducedfromagriculturalactivities

thereistremendousopportunitytoutilisethebioenergyresourcetoproduceenergyandbio-fertilisers

Addingbioenergygenerationtosmall-scalefamilyfarmingproductionhasatransformativeimpact

onruralagrarianeconomiesAnewlocaleconomyismobilisedthatincludesdesignengineering

electricalandmechanicalmaintenanceassistanceforbiologicalcontrolofthebiodigesterstradeof

equipmentrawmaterialsmachineryenginesgeneratorspipingcontrolpanelsandelectricalgrid

connectionsoflowmediumandhightension

A project Agri-energy Cooperative for Family Farming has been launched in the Municipality of

MarechalCândidoRondoninthestateofParanáThisprojectinvolvessmall-scalefamilyfarms

whereindividualbiodigesters(biogasplants)areinstalledtoproducebiogasThebiogasistransported

through a -kilometre-long gas pipeline from each biogas plant to a centralised power plant to

produce electricity and heat andor biomethane vehicle fuel after upgrading Finally toclose the

production loop the biofertiliser originatingfromthe biodigesters is used on the  co-operative

farmsandanysurpluscanalsobesoldtoprovideadditionalincome

Source: IEA, 2013b

IRENA76

the form of electricity or as boiler fuel for

space or water heating In  approximately

GWhequivalentofenergywasgeneratedby

anaerobic digester systems on livestock farms

trackedundertheUSEnvironmentalProtection

Agency’s (EPA’s) AgSTAR programme



 (see

ﬁgure ) with combined heat and power

being the most common use of biogas (see

ﬁgure)(USEPAa)Theuseofon-site

agricultureresiduesforenergyproductionshould

howevercarefullyconsiderthecompetinguseof

residues especially in developing countries for

other on-site purposes such as maintaining soil

quality(fertilityandprotection)animalfeedand

increasinglybiomaterials

Betweenharvestingandconsumptionagricultural

food products undergo a certain degree of

transformation or processing During this stage

energyisrequiredtopreservefoodreducepost-

harvestlossesandextendtheavailabilityoffood

overalongerperiodoftimeThelackofaccessto

reliable and aordable energy is a keychallenge

for the food processing industry as it aects its

competitiveness(FAOb)Thishighlightsthe

need for the food processing sector to reduce

energy consumption increase energy eciency

and integrate renewable energy to enhance

sustainabilityandeconomiccompetitiveness

Boxes  and  provide examples of how

renewable energy technologies are supporting

rural agro-processing industries Existing food

processing plants can also use biomass by-

AgSTAR is one of the EPA’s climate-protection partnership programmes, which promotes investments in alternative energy technolo-

gies by encouraging the development and adoption of anaerobic digestion technology in the livestock sector. Details for farm-level an-

aerobic digester projects in the United States are available at http://www.epa.gov/agstar/projects/.

productsforco-generatingheatandpowerwhich

are usually consumed on-site (FAO b) In

Indiatheworld’ssecondlargestproducerofsugar

cane wet bagasse a bio-product of sugar mills

is re-used in the plants to generate power and

steam Bagasse cogeneration has emerged as a

crucial optionfor supplying low-cost and reliable

energyandIndiahasdeployednearlyGWof

such capacity nationally (MNRE ) Similarly

in Mauritius bagasse cogeneration contributes to

some  of national electricity production By

using bagasse Mauritius saves on importing the

equivalentofsometonnesofcoalthereby

preventing  million tonnes of CO



emissions

(MSPAnd)

A signiﬁcant share of total energy inputs is

embedded in food losses that occur at the

harvestandstoragestagesAsaresultsigniﬁcant

attention is given to renewable energy in

developing decentralised processing and storage

infrastructure For instance solar energy and

biomass have been used successfully for both

dry and cold storage Compared to other food

preservation techniques food drying can be

performedusinglow-temperaturethermalsources

andisapplicabletomanydierenttypesoffood

(including ﬁsh fruits and vegetables) The dried

foodproducedislightweightiseasilystoredand

transportedandhasanextendedshelflifeInSri

Lankatheuseofwoodbiomasstodryspiceshas

diversiﬁedincomestreamsandincreasedrevenue

for local operators in the spice market chain In

additiontosellingthefuelwoodby-productfrom

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

Non-electricity projects

Electricity projects

Million kWh per year equivalent

Figure 2.17 Energy generation by anaerobic digester systems in the United States, 2000-2013

Source:

US EPA, 2014a

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

pepperplantstothedryeroperatorssmall-scale

growers are able to sell mature spices that can

bedriedandpreserved(FAO)Geothermal

fooddryingalsopresentstremendouspotentialfor

reducingfoodlossesandenhancingfoodsecurity

(seebox)

BOX 2.9

USING BIOENERGY AND HYDROPOWER FOR RICE PROCESSING

The case of Nicaragua

ThetownofSanJosédeBocayinthedepartmentofJinotegaislocatedkilometresfromthe

capitalcityofManaguaNicaraguaAlocallyownedandoperatedminihydroelectricplantprovides

kWofelectricityforthefamiliesinthiscommunityanditssurroundingsAricethresherwas

putintoserviceimmediatelyaftertheinaugurationofthehydroelectricplantinSanJosédeBocay

withtheobjectiveofstrengtheninganddiversifyingtheuseofelectricityandprovidingalternative

worktothelabourersandfarmersinthismunicipalityAriceprocessingcentrewhichincludesarice

thresherandabiomassricedryerprovidesservicetosmallfarmerswhodonothavethemeans

ortheeconomicresourcestotransporttheirproductstolargercitiesforprocessingTheservices

oeredaredryingthegrainthreshingandstoringtherice

Thisprojecthasmotivatedfarmersinthemunicipalitytoplantriceaslocalopportunitiesnowexist

toaddvaluetothisproductionandtoobtainabetterpricefortheproductatthemunicipalmarket

Locallyprocessedriceisalsolessexpensiveforconsumerswhichimprovesthefamilyeconomyand

allowstheentirepopulationtoconsumericeimprovingthedietofpoorfamiliesToavoidthepossible

negativeecologicalsideeectsofricecultivation(itisverydemandingofnutrientsandcanleadto

rapidsoildepletion)ATDER-BL(AsociacióndeTrabajadoresdeDesarrolloRural–BenjaminLinder)

supports communities in making the transition to organic agriculture and promotes sustainable

practicessuch as terracing reforestation leavingan uncultivatedborder along streamsandagro-

forestryTheprojectalreadyhasservedasamodeltobereplicatedinothercommunitiesviablein

variouslocationsduetothegeneralhighdemandforriceprocessingitsﬁnancialsustainabilityand

theuseoflocallyavailablematerials

Source: WISIONS, 2007

Number of projects

120

100

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Combined heat and power

Flared full time

Electricity

All others

Boiler/Furnace fuel

Figure 2.18 Trends in end-uses of biogas in the United States, 2000-2013

Source:

US EPA, 2014a

IRENA78

Cookingisanenergy-intensiveactivityespecially

indeveloping countries whereinecient cooking

practices are commonplace Around  billion

people worldwide rely on traditional biomass for

cooking such as fuelwood crop residues and

animal dung (FAO ) Traditional sources

of biomass however are not always produced

sustainably and emissions of smoke and carbon

monoxide can lead to health and safety issues

(IPCC)Moreovertraditionalbiomassisoften

scavenged which usually demands considerable

labourandtime

Severalmeasureshavebeenundertakentoaddress

thissituationEortsareunderwaytoenhancethe

energy eciency of cooking processes through

the use of improvedcookstoves Compared with

The barriers to the adoption of improved cookstoves and biogas solutions have been discussed in greater detail in IRENA’s other

streams of work such as Renewable Energy Jobs and Access (IRENA 2012c).

BOX 2.10

BIOGAS USE FOR TOFU AND TEMPEH PROCESSING

The case of Indonesia

InurbanJakartaandthesurroundingcitiesinJavatofuandtempeharefundamentalstaplesofthe

Indonesiandietandanimportantsourceofproteinandothercritical nutrientsespeciallyforlow-

incomehouseholdsTofuandtempehareproducedlocallythroughoutIndonesiabyapproximately

informalmicrosmallandmediumenterpriseswhichcollectivelyemployworkersand

generatearoundUSDmillionperyear

TofuandtempeharetraditionallyproducedusingﬁrewoodtoheatsoybeansFirewoodistypically

gatheredinparks forestsaroundtownorfromsecondarysourcessuchas furniturefactoriesand

construction sites In many locations ﬁrewood has become increasingly scarce resulting in rising

costs(moneyandtimeexpenditure)tocollectadequatesuppliesMoreoverlackofregulationhasled

topoorsanitationsafetyandhealthconditionsandhighenvironmentalimpacts

In short the tofu and tempeh sector is in need of suitable scalable and sustainable production

technologiesInthiscontextaMercyCorpsprojectispromotingbiogasreactorsinthetofuindustry

inperi-urbanareaswiththefollowingbeneﬁts)avoidedfuelcostsinthelongterm)avoidedrisk

ofpriceﬂuctuationsforLPGandﬁrewood)avoidedriskofﬁrewoodscarcity)avoidedcommunity

opposition due to reduction of smoke and water pollution ) time savings and improved health

conditionsand)optiontoproduceelectricityfrombiogas

Theprojecthasselectedlarge-andsmall-scaleﬁxed-domebiogastechnologyprovidedbyalocal

company (digesters made of ﬁbreglass to be used for individual tofu and tempeh producers or

groupsuptofourproducerunitswasteinputrequirementsareliquidwasteplussolidwaste

or kitchen garbage) The biogas reactorsconvert the liquid wasteof tofu and tempeh production

intomethanegasandareabletosubstitutetheLPGusageintheproductionprocessbyupto

Additionallytheeuent(waste)producedbythebiogasreactorcanbeusedasfertiliserorﬁshfeed

withoutanytreatmentThismeansthatthereisapotentialincomeopportunityforsellingthewaste

productstothefarmingsector

Source: REEEP, 2014

openﬁresusingmoreecientcookingstovescan

reducethedemandforfuelwoodbyhalfAlonger-

term solution is to expand access to modern

cooking fuelssuch as LPG andbiogas



Tapping

into local bioenergy resources to sustainably

provide clean cooking fuels to rural communities

is expected to be central to achieving universal

accesstomodernenergyservices

2.3.2 Increasing use of bioenergy in the

global energy mix

The majority of bioenergy consumption today is

fortraditionalusesincookingandheatingIn

morethanoftotalglobalbiomassdemandwas

intheresidentialandcommercialbuildingssector

mostlyforcookingandheatingThemanufacturing

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

industry()transport()andthepowerand

districtheating()sectors accountedforabout

one-third

Modern bioenergy could represent a substantial

shareoftheglobalenergymixmovingforwardIt

hasdiverseapplicationsacrossallend-usesectors

toprovideenergyservicesincludingelectricityand

heatingandtransportfuelsInparticularmodern

bioenergy provides a key pathway to alleviate

energy poverty and enhance access to modern

energyservicesincludingcleancookingfuelsand

electricity Indeed IRENA’sREmap  analysis

highlightsthatbymodernbiomassdemand

coulddoubletoexajoulesaccountingfor

oftotalﬁnalrenewableenergyuseThisestimateis

comparabletootherscenarioanalysessuchasIEA

(ppm)IPCC(-ppm)andGreenpeace

(Alternative)(IRENAd)

Bioenergy development needs to be managed

sustainably and eciently The opportunities

oered by the development of bioenergy

resourcescreateacompellingcasefortheirrapid

adoption Bioenergy development can enhance

energy security and provide a localised solution

with potential positive eects on food security

Moreover a bioenergy sector could create new

markets for producers as well as create new

employment opportunities that positively aect

rural incomes poverty reduction and economic

growth Bioenergy also has the potential to help

meet environmental objectives such as reducing

greenhousegasemissions(FAOb)

Yet the bioenergy sector also has been a cause

of concern because of potential negative

impacts on food security and the environment

caused by intensive agriculture production and

by competition between food production and

natural resources (FAO b) The impacts of

bioenergy – speciﬁcally liquid biofuels – on food

prices economic growth energy security land

usedeforestationandclimatechangearecomplex

and multi-faceted These impacts vary widely

depending on the feedstocks and production

methodsusedandonthelocation(FAOndc)

In general experience has shown that energy

produced from biomass can contribute to food

securityaslongasitissustainablyproducedand

managed (FAO d) To enable this a broad

array of approaches tools and sustainability

frameworks (eg Sustainability Indicators for

Bioenergy developed by the Global Bioenergy

Partnership European Commission or the FAO

SustainableBioenergySupportPackage)arebeing

developed and implemented to better inform

decision making on bioenergy development by

quantifyingtrade-osandsupportingwidercost-

beneﬁtanalysis

The production of primary bioenergy from

agricultural resources is closely related to food

demandandsupplybecausebothenergyandfood

crops are produced using the same agricultural

landresourcesThereareseveralwaysthatenergy

cropscanbeproducedinamannerthatminimises

impacts(NLAgency)

BOX 2.11

POTENTIAL FOR GEOTHERMAL FOOD DRYING

The case of Iceland

Dryingisanimportanttechniqueforpreservingfoodindevelopingcountrieshowevertraditional

methodscanresultinspoilagecontaminationandlowproductqualityEectivesolarandgeothermal

fooddryingtechnologiesarenowavailabletoreducesuchlossesandincreasefoodqualityresultingin

greaterproductivityandincomeforfarmersTheuseofrenewableenergysourcesgenerallyreduces

fuelcosts

IcelandcurrentlyexportstonnesofcodheadsannuallymostlytoNigeriathataredriedusingheat

fromgeothermalenergyThisallowsforareductioninwastagestimulatesbusinesseswithinIceland’s

ﬁshingindustryandhelpsboostfoodsuppliesinNigeriaThesametechnology(renewablegeothermal

heat)couldalsobeusedtodryandpreserveabroadvarietyoffoodssuchasmeatsandfruits

Source: IRENA, 2013; Shankleman, 2013

IRENA80

» Increasedeciencyinland useThe need to

expandthecultivatedareacanbereducedby

increasingtheyieldsofenergyandfoodcrops

and by promoting integrated food energy

systems that include rotations of energy and

foodcropsmixedenergyfood cropsystems

and the cascading use of residues from

agriculture(seebox)

» Crop production on abandoned or degraded

landsLand-usechangeimpactsofbioenergy

production could be limited by using

abandonedordegradedlandsthattypicallyare

characterisedbylackofwaterlowsoilfertility

or high temperatures There are bioenergy

crops that are tolerant to such environmental

conditions where food crops might fail Any

such development however should carefully

considerpotentialcompetitionwithotheruses

ofdegradedlandandbebackedbyathorough

cost-beneﬁtanalysis

» Producingbioenergyfromwastesorresidues

Usingagriculturalwastestreams andresidues

(egbagasseforenergyfromsugarproduction

biogasfrommanure)forbioenergyproduction

BOX 2.12

INTEGRATED FOOD-ENERGY SYSTEMS

The case of simultaneous intercropping in Sri Lanka and Malawi

Theproductionofbioenergyinintegratedfood–energysystemsmakesitpossibletomeetbothfood

and energydemand It involves combining the sustainable production of food and other biomass

across dierent ecological spatial and temporal scales through multiple-cropping systems or

systemsmixingannualcropspecieswithperennialplantsieagro-forestrysystems(FAOd)

Agro-forestry is a set of tools that farmers use to increase yields build soil fertility raise income

andboostfoodsecuritySimultaneousintercroppingisanagro-forestrytechniquewherebynitrogen-

ﬁxingwoodytreesaregrownsimultaneouslywithannualcropsonthesamepieceofland

Gliricidiasepiumisafast-growingnitrogen-ﬁxingleguminoustreethatisusedtoaddnitrogenand

organic matter tothe soil and thatcan dramatically increase cropyields In Malawiintercropping

maize with Gliricidia yielded more than  tonnes per hectare in good years and an average of

 tonnes per hectareoverallin the absenceofmineral fertilisers (compared withan average of

-tonnesperhectarewithoutGliricidiaormineralfertiliser)(FAOndd)SimilarlyinSriLanka

Gliricidiaisintercroppedwithcoconut

Afood–energysystemforruralelectriﬁcationhasbeencommerciallydevelopedthatusesGliricidiaas

thefeedstockforelectricityproductionAtoMWpowerplantissitedinaruralareacomposedof

smallholderfarmerswhogrowpredominantlyfoodcropsinamaize-mixedfarmingsystemGliricidia

trees are intercropped in the maize ﬁelds in a grid pattern The trees produce wood and foliage

thatisharvestedperiodically during theyear bypollardingthe treesThe foliage is stripped from

thebranchesfor high-proteinlivestockfodderandorbiofertiliserforthe cropsThe branchesare

removedandtransportedtothepowerplantasfeedstockforelectricalpowergenerationwiththe

electricityprovidedtolocalruralconsumersandanyexcessgoingtothenationalgrid

TheGliricidiasystemsalsoincreasetheon-farmproductionofﬁrewoodaresourcethatisincreasingly

in short supply in Africa smallholder agricultural systems Farm production of adequate fuelwood

savesthedrudgeryofwomenandchildrenintravellinglongdistancestocollectitandthisreleases

time and energy for other income-generating activities It also reduces the destruction of natural

forestsbyreducingtheneedtocollectﬁrewoodfrompubliclands

Such an integrated food–energy industry is envisioned to provide electrical power while at the

sametimeenhancingfoodproductionandnutritionsecurityimprovinglivelihoodsconservingthe

environmentandadvancingeconomicgrowth

Source: EverGreen Agriculture, 2014

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

can save land otherwise needed to produce

energy crops as well as contribute to value-

addedwithinthesupplychainHoweverakey

pointofconsiderationisthecompetinguseof

agricultural residues or waste for maintaining

soil quality (fertilising and protection) animal

feed and increasingly biomaterials These

multiple uses often limit the availability of

residuesforenergyproduction

» Productionofco-productsCo-productssuch

aspresscakesofbiofuelproductionareoften

usedaslivestockfeedToacertainextentthis

canosettheuseoflandandwaterresources

for feed production and makes resources

available for food production Co-products

usually have high added value At the same

time market drivers determine whether they

generatemostvalueasfeedorasindustrialor

energyfeedstock

To overcome the limitations of ﬁrst-generation

biofuels that depend on energy cropsthat could

competedirectlywithfoodproductionsubstantial

research and development eorts are focusing

on second- and third-generation biofuels These

are produced from non-food cellulosic biomass

suchaswoodyandstrawresiduesfromagriculture

andforestrythe organicfraction ofurbanwaste

and algae-based feedstock These feedstocks

require advanced capital-intensive processing to

producebiofuelsbuttheycouldholdthepotential

tobemoresustainableoeringhigheremissions

reductions and less sensitivity to ﬂuctuations in

feedstock costs (IRENA and IEA-ETSAP )

Even if second-generation biofuels use non-food

feedstocks the trade-os between food and

fuel are not entirely resolvedbecause of indirect

land-use changes and due to the potentially

huge market demand for renewable energy in

comparisontoagriculture(FAOb)

As withbioenergy the energysector asa whole

requireslandinputsacrossdierentstagesofthe

supply chain depending on the resource being

harnessed Fossil fuels and nuclear for instance

converthighlyconcentratedminedresourcesinto

useful energy in power plants or reﬁneries But

thelandrequirementsoftheseenergysourcesare

signiﬁcant including the footprints of mines and

drilling sites associated support infrastructure

Direct impact is deﬁned as the disturbed land due to physical infrastructure development. The total area is more challenging to deﬁne

and subjective in nature. Generally, the total area of a wind plant consists of the area within a perimeter surrounding all of the turbines

in the project. However, the perimeter depends highly on terrain, the size of turbines, current land use, setback regulations, and other

considerations (NREL, 2009).

transportation routes from extraction to

conversion sites the footprint of the conversion

(transformation) site and the footprint of any

neededwastedepository(Andrewsetal)

A number of metrics and methodologies are

availableforevaluatingland-useimpactsfocusing

mainlyontheareaaectedandthedurationand

quality of the impacts (also called the “damage

function”) (NREL  Koellner and Scholz

)Forasoundassessmentofthelandimpacts

of dierent energy technologies it is important

to consider all three aspects on a life-cycle

basis including fuel extraction and processing

transformation and decommissioning if any

(Steger ) Suchan assessmentutilises land-

intensity metrics that include an analysis of how

muchlandisneededforhowlongandwhetherit

canberestoredafteruse

The land intensities (area per unit generation)

of dierent renewable energy technologies are

highlycontextspeciﬁcduetotheirdistributedand

diused nature They depend on the renewable

resourceavailabletechnologydeployedandlocal

environmental factors National-level eorts are

under way to improve the understanding of the

land intensity of dierent technologies In 

the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

undertook a comprehensive land-use analysis of

 projects representing more than  GW of

wind capacity (NREL ) The study focused

on quantifying the area of impact recognising

thatthequalityand durationoftheimpactmust

beevaluatedonacase-by-casebasisTheaverage

area requirement for wind power plants was

 ( ) acresMW for permanent direct

impact



()fortemporarydirectimpact

and  ( ) acresMW for total area In

NRELanalysedland-usedataforsolar

PV and CSP projects (NREL a) The study

found that the direct land-use requirements

for small and large PV installations range from

 to  acresMW with a capacity-weighted

average of  acresMW For CSP installations

direct land-use intensity ranges from  to

acresMWwithacapacity-weightedaverage

ofacresMW(NRELa)

Severalstudieshavebeenundertakentocompare

estimatesofthelandintensityofrenewableenergy

IRENA82

technologieswithotherconventionaltechnologies

Fthenakis and Kim () studies land-use

requirements of dierent power generation

technologies in the United States Although

estimatescanvarywithregionalandtechnological

conditionsthe studyﬁndsthatsolarPVrequires

theleastamountof(total)landamongrenewable

energy-options Moreover ground-mounted PV

deployed in areas with high insolation transform

less land than coal coupled with surface mining

Onshorewindappearshighergiventhatthetotal

area of the farm is considered however as the

datafromNRELindicatethedirectareainuseis

minimalleavingthemajorityofthelandsuitable

for other uses (see box ) (NREL c)

The same is increasingly applicable for solar PV

where systems are being deployed on roof-tops

orco-existwithagriculturalproductionasinthe

caseofJapan(seebox)andItaly(seeboxon

agrophotovoltaic farms in FAO c) It is also

importanttoconsiderthepotentialfordeploying

renewable energy technologies on marginal

lands that are generally underused dicult to

cultivate have low economic value and varied

developmental potentialDeveloping solar power

on contaminated and disturbed lands can help

createjobsandrevitaliselocalandstateeconomies

andselectingthesesitesovergreenﬁeldsitescan

potentially have permitting and environmental

mitigation advantages In the United States for

instancethedevelopmentofsolarPVonmarginal

lands present thehighest opportunity (Milbrandt

etal)Infactthereissucientdisturbed

and environmentally contaminated land area

suitableforutility-scalesolarpowerdevelopment

tomeettheSunShotgoalsofGWofPVand

GWofCSPby(NRELb)

Using the total area metric without qualiﬁcation

maydistortthe land impacts ofsome renewable

energy technologies compared to other sources

Many comparisons of total land use associated

withenergyproductionincludeonlythetotalarea

aectedandprovidelittlediscussionoftheimpact

onlandquality(damagefunction)asacomparative

metricForinstanceawindplantinanagricultural

area with low population and minimum avian

BOX 2.13

DUAL USE OF LAND FOR POWER PRODUCTION AND AGRICULTURE

Inmanyregionslandundercultivationcouldsimultaneouslybeusedforrenewableenergyproduction

Multi-useoflandforagricultureandenergypurposesisbecomingcommonsuchaswindturbines

constructedongrazinglandbiogasplantsusedfortreatinganimalmanurewithnutrientsrecycled

tothelandcropresiduescollectedandcombustedforheatandpowerandenergycropsgrownand

managedspeciﬁcallytoprovideabiomassfeedstockforliquidbiofuelsheatandpowergeneration

(withco-productspossiblyusedforfeedandﬁbre)(IPCC)

Giventhatfarmersaremostvulnerabletofossilfuelpricevolatilityandcanreceivethelowestshareof

theﬁnalproductsalevalueleasingfarmlandtorenewableenergydeveloperssuchaswindcanbea

sourceofadditionalincomeInGermanyforinstanceofrenewableenergycapacity(asof)

isownedbyfarmersSolarfarmsmayalsoenhancetheagriculturalvalueoflandwheremarginal

orpreviouslydevelopedland(eganoldairﬁeldsite)hasbeenbroughtbackintomoreproductive

grazingmanagementItisdesirablethatthetermsofasolarfarmagreementincludeagrazingplan

thatensuresthefarmercontinuedaccesstotheland

Manysolarfarmdevelopersactivelyencouragemulti-purposelandusethroughcontinuedagricultural

activity or agri-environmental measures that support biodiversity yielding both economic and

ecologicalbeneﬁts(BRE)

Itiscommonlyproposedinplanningapplicationsforsolarfarmsthatthelandbetweenandunderneath

the rows of PV modules be available for grazing small livestock Sheep and free-ranging poultry

alreadyhavebeensuccessfullyemployedtomanagegrasslandinsolarfarmswhiledemonstrating

dual-purposelanduse

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE NEXUS

BOX 2.14

PRODUCING CROPS AND SOLAR ENERGY SIMULTANEOUSLY

The case of solar sharing in Japan

Theconceptofco-productionoffoodandenergyknownas“solarsharing”ﬁrstcametoJapanin

Theguidingprincipleliesinunderstandingthepointbeyondwhichanincreaseinthelevelofsunlight

incidentontheplantsdoesnotcauseanyfurtherriseintherateofphotosynthesisSpecialstructuresare

beingdeployedinvolvingrowsofPVpanelsmountedabovegroundandarrangedatcertainintervalsto

allowenoughsunlightforphotosynthesisandspaceforagriculturalmachinerytobeused

The Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries recently has allowed installation of solar PV

systems oncrop-producing farmsandhas introducedguidelines toensurethatfarmlandsarenot

fullyconvertedtosolarplantsFarmersarerequiredtoreporttheirannualcropcultivationandifthe

amountcultivatedfallsbelowtheywillberequiredtodismantlethePVsystem

Several“solarsharing”plantshavebeendevelopedInChibaPrefecturethekWKazusatsurumai

Solar Sharing Project has  PV panels on a  m



 farm mounted  metres from the ground

UnderthepanelspeanutsyamseggplantscucumbertomatoesandcabbagesaregrownThePV

produceskWhofelectricityperyearandbeneﬁttedfromanattractivefeed-intariSimilar

projectshaveemergedintheAichiandFukushimaPrefecture

Source: ISIS, 2013

impacts or a GW of solar PV deployed on roof

topswouldhaveamuchlowerdamagefunction

than an area mined for coal where all natural

habitatiscleared(McDonaldetal)

Other energy production technologies with a

relativelysmallinfrastructurefootprintcouldaect

a larger area through habitat fragmentation and

other secondary wildlife eects For example

production techniques involving wells such as

geothermalpetroleumandnaturalgashaveabout

oftheirimpactareaaectedbydirectclearing

with the remainder coming from fragmenting

habitatsandspeciesavoidancebehavior(McDonald

etal ) For solartechnologiesin particular

theseaspectswillbediscussedingreaterdetailin

IRENA’sforthcomingstudyEnvironmentalImpact

fromDeploymentofSolarEnergyTechnologies

2.4 CONCLUSION

Renewable energy technologies are poised for

substantial growth in the coming decades A

combinationofdriversincludingenergysecurity

climate change mitigation socio-economic

considerationsandenergyaccesswillpropelthe

ongoingtransformationoftheenergysectoraway

from traditional fossil fuel options This dynamic

presents both opportunities and challenges

for the water and food sector The distributed

and environmentally sustainable nature of most

renewable energy technologies means that they

could address trade-os between the water

energyandfoodsectorsandleverageonsynergies

toenhancesustainabilityacrossthesesectors

A shift towards relatively less resource-intensive

renewablessuchassolarPVandwindcanaddress

challenges posed by the water–energy nexus

Analysingprojectionsforwaterusebytheenergy

sectorshowsthatataglobalregionalandnational

levelan energysystemwith substantialshares of

renewable energy could be less water intensive

comparedtoonebasedonconventionalfuels

Inanincreasinglywater-constrainedenvironment

renewable energy could oer a low-carbon

and less water-intensive path to expanding the

energy sector While the cumulative beneﬁts

are estimated to be positive due attention is

necessarytoassessthewaterimpactsofindividual

technologysolutionsWhereassolarPVandwind

have minimal water needs technologies such

as CSP and bioenergy development could have

a substantial water footprint that needs to be

adequatelyconsideredinenergysectorplanning

IRENA84

The chapter has shownthat renewables are also

consideredasameanstoenhancewatersecurity

Distributed renewable energy systems are being

deployed increasingly to expand access to

water services in remote communities while also

expanding water availability for irrigation with

positiveimpactsonfoodsecurityInurbansettings

renewableenergytechnologiesarebeingdeployed

toenhancetheresilienceofurbanwatersystems

Energycostsmakeupasubstantialshareofwater

utility expenditures and hence tapping into

locallyavailableenergyresourcesallowsutilitiesto

reduce costs and improve the reliability of water

supplyInaridregionsoftheworldwhereenergy-

intensive desalination willplayanever important

roleinmeetinggrowingwaterdemandsubstantial

focusisnowbeingdirectedtodeveloprenewable

energy-based desalination solutions that can

together with renewable energy for electricity

generation provide an integrated solution to

addressthewaterandenergychallenge

Renewable energy when implemented in a

sustainablemannercanstimulatethefoodsector

withneweconomic opportunitiesand bridge the

modern energy deﬁcit along the supplychainto

reduce losses and enhanceproductivity There is

consensushoweverthatthegrowthinrenewable

energy deployment has to be supported with

adequate consideration of the broader impacts

bothpositiveandnegativeonotherdevelopment

sectors Bioenergy for instance can play a

transformative role in the transition towards a

renewables-basedenergysystemItisaresource

thatiswidelyandlocallyavailablewithtremendous

synergieswithruralagri-economies

Thedevelopmentofthisresourceneedstoconsider

impactsonwaterandlandusecompetitionwith

foodcropsandbroadersustainabilityissuesSuch

anassessmentisparticularlyusefulatanenergy-

systemlevelwhereinenergysectorstrategiescan

bevettedthrough standardframeworks suchas

theFAO’sBioenergyandFoodSecurityApproach

whichallowsforcross-sectoralassessment

The chapter presented preliminary quantitative

analysis for a set of ﬁve countries and the

GCC region to demonstrate how preliminary

assessments can be useful in identifying cross-

sectoralimpactsofenergysectorscenariosSuch

assessmentsprovideimportantinsightsintowhere

potentialstresses(ortrade-os)couldariseinthe

futureandhelpguidestepstoaddressitThenext

chapterwillfocusonnexusassessmenttoolsthat

cansupportnexus-orienteddecisionmaking

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS 85

Planning and decision making that consider the

impactsofenergystrategiesonothersectorsand

thatmorebroadlysupportanintegratedapproach

to resource management require substantial

qualitativeandquantitativeinsights

Thischapterdelvesdeeperintothoseinsightsand

explores the tools available to policy makers for

obtaining them These tools are reviewed based

on the main inputs they require the outputs

they provide (and hence the policy questions

they address) and some of their analytical

characteristicsOnthe basisofgaps identiﬁed in

thereviewthechapteralsoproposesaframework

fora scenario-based nexusdecision-supporttool

– withenergy as the entry point – that makes it

possibletoquantifyhowanincreaseddeployment

of renewable energy in the national mix could

aectthedemandofwaterandlandfood

3.1 INSIGHTS FOR NEXUS-FRIENDLY

DECISION MAKING: THE CASE FOR TOOLS

Policy making oftentends tooccur in silo mode

without sucient co-ordination and without

necessarily consideringtheinﬂuences that policy

decisionsinonesectorcouldhaveontheothers

Suchlackofpolicyco-ordinationcouldexistwithin

one levelof the administration (eg the Ministry

ofEnergydealingwithenergyandtheMinistryof

Agriculturedealingwithfood)orbetweendierent

administrationlevels(egenergydecisionsbeing

made at the national levelwhile waterdecisions

aremadeatthelocallevel)

DECISION-MAKING TOOLS WITH A

NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

According to the Global Water Partnership’s deﬁnition, IWRM is a “process which promotes the co-ordinated development and man-

agement of water, land and related resources, in order to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner

without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”.

Asiloapproachtomanagingtheseresourceshas

oftenledtounsustainablepolicyanddevelopment

choices(Weitz)Thereisgrowingrecognition

of the need to better understand the linkages

betweenwaterenergyandfoodandtoadoptan

integrated approach to managing these sectors

Integrated resource management is not a new

conceptandhasbeenakeyfeatureofwell-known

developmentapproachessuchasintegratedwater

resources management (IWRM)



or watershed

management(eginBrazilIndiaEthiopia)These

and related methodologies have been proposed

byvariousUNagencies theWorldBank(egin

itsStrategicEnvironmentalAssessment)andother

institutions

Adoptinganexusapproachtosectormanagement

involves analysing cross-sectoral interactions to

facilitateintegratedplanninganddecisionmaking

Suchanapproachencompassestheuseofavast

array of quantitative and qualitative decision-

support tools and methodologies depending on

the purpose of the analysis access to data and

availabilityoftechnicalcapacity(SEI)

The outcomes from such tools inform policy

makingbyquantifyingtheextenttowhichacertain

policy aects the dierent sectors The need for

such integrated decision-support frameworks

is illustrated for example by the FAO’s nexus

assessmentmethodology(seebox)

Methodologiestosupportnexus-friendlydecision

making can be qualitative quantitative or

combinedAlthoughthemainfocusofthischapteris

IRENA86

BOX 3.1

THE FAO’S NEXUS ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

TheFAOisco-leadingwithGermanFederalMinistryforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment(BMZ)

theHigh-ImpactOpportunity(HIO)ontheWater–Energy–FoodNexuswithintheUN´sSustainableEnergy

forAllinitiative(SEALL)TheWater–Energy–FoodNexusHIOisavoluntarypartnershipoflike-minded

stakeholders that seeks to facilitate the development and deployment of sustainable nexus solutions

toaid SEALL in reaching its goals Current partners include the FAOBMZGIZ IRENA OPEC Fund

forInternationalDevelopment(OFID)REEEPtheWorldBanktheEuropeanCommissionandtheUS

AgencyforInternationalDevelopment(USAID)

As part of its contribution to the Nexus HIO the FAO has developed the WEF nexus assessment

methodology(FAOb)Thegoalofthismethodologyis)tohaveanideaofthesustainabilityofthe

referencesystemterritorialcontext(egacountryoraregion)anditsbio-economicpressuresand)

toassesstheperformanceofspeciﬁcpolicy-orproject-levelinterventionsintermsofnaturalandhuman

resource-use eciency The assessment can be carried out at dierent levels and scales Suggested

indicatormatricesandtoolscanbeusedforthefollowingfourmainbuildingblocksoftheassessment

(seealsoﬁgure)

•QualitativeandorquantitativeassessmentofthecontextwhereinterventionstakeplaceThisﬁrst

stepcanalreadyinsomecasesprovideinsightsonsomeoftheresponseoptions

•Quantitativeassessmentofspeciﬁcinterventionswiththeaimofanalysinghowtheyperformfrom

a nexus perspectiveThis step ideally should be carried out after the context analysis because an

interventioncouldhavethesamenexusperformanceintwodierentcontextsbutbeacceptablein

onlyoneofthem(hencetheimportanceofassessinginterventionsagainstthenexussituationofthe

context)Thisstagealsoallowsforthecomparisonofdierentinterventionsinthesamecontextwith

regardtotheirnexusperformance

•Identiﬁcationofresponseoptionsneededtoensurethesustainabilityoftheenvironmentandlivelihoods

•Adequate stakeholder engagement at every relevant step Stakeholders can develop their own

indicatorsandbenchmarkingsystemshoweverifthisisdicultordataarenotavailableasastarting

pointtheFAOmethodologyproposesindicatorsforwhichinformationisavailablefrominternational

datasetsaswellasabenchmarkingsystembasedoninternationalreferences

TheFAO’sproposed nexusassessmentmethodologyreﬂectstheinternationalcommunity’songoing

eortstoproposeandadoptframeworksthatsupportintegratedandnexus-friendlydecisionmaking

Thepresentchaptersupportstheneedfortheseframeworksandintendstoaddvalueinthisﬁeld



Figure 3.1 Main components of the FAO’s nexus assessment methodology

CONTEXT ANALYSIS

QUANTITATIVE

ASSESSMENT

Qualitative analysis

I. Quantitative analysis

Interlinkages matrix and nexus sustainability indicators

II. Application of input/output tools

Complementary tools measure nexus sustainability indicators

III. Assessment of interventions

Intervention matrices (resource use eciency indicators)

IV. Comparison of interventions

Radar charts to compare interventions in a given context

RESPONSE OPTIONS on strategic vision, policies, regulations, institutional settings and interventions

STAKEHOLDERS DIALOGUE

Source: Adapted from FAO, 2014b

For more details on the methodology, please refer to FAO (2014b).

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

onquantitativetools



qualitativemethodologies

also can bring important insights to decision-

makingprocessesTheFAO’sNexusAssessment

methodologyforexamplecombinesbothtypes

ofapproacheswhereasothermethodologiesare

mainly qualitative in naturesuch as that of the

UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

andKungligaTekniskaHögskolan(KTH)()

Thisreportdierentiates



twomainapproaches

in quantitative nexus tools a “fully integrated”

approach and an “entry point” approach as

illustratedinﬁgureAfullyintegratedapproach

representstherelationsbetweenresourcesinall

directions whereas an “entry point” approach

analyses the inﬂuence of one resource (ie the

“entrypoint”)ontheothersWhilesomeexperts

consider nexus tools as those that address

interactionsbetweenelementsinabi-directional

way(egwateronenergyandenergyonwater)

this report also considers as nexus tools those

thataddressinteractionsonlyinauni-directional

way (eg energy on water) In the case of

energy assessing the implications of a speciﬁc

energypolicyonothersectorssuchaswaterand

food (ieusing a uni-directional approach with

energyastheentrypointillustratedinﬁgure

(b)) can bring useful preliminary insights even

in the absence of a fully integrated approach

For instance assessing the water resource

requirementsofan energystrategycan provide

usefulinitialinformationwithregardtopotential

trade-os with other wateruses even if a fully

integrated planning of these sectors is more

preferableSomeexistingmethodologiessuchas

theFAO’snexusassessment(FAOb)orthe

WaterEnergyFoodNexusTool(Mohtarand

Daher)usefoodastheentrypointothers

suchas theoneinUNECEand KTH ()use

waterastheentrypointandstillotherssuchas

MARKALTIMES(Loulouetal)useenergy

astheentrypointIntheremainderofthechapter

the discussion will be mainly from the energy

perspective(ieenergyastheentrypoint)

Adopting a nexus perspective in energy policy

makingisbecomingnecessaryandquantitative

tools could prove useful Such tools could help

gain insights into the nexus implications of

energy policies support informed renewable

energy policy making and mitigate potential

risks



 For example solar pumping could be

promoted to expand irrigation and to decouple

water availability from the fossil fuel or grid

ENERGY

FOODWATER

ENERGY

FOODWATER

(a) (b)

Figure 3.2 Fully integrated and bi-directional approach (a) and entry point uni-directional approach from

the energy sector (b)

In the remainder of the report, unless otherwise stated, the expressions “analytical frameworks”, “quantitative frameworks”, “analytical

tools” and “quantitative tools” will be treated as synonyms.

This dierentiation has been found to be unclear in the literature.

A thorough analysis of renewable energy policies from a nexus perspective is out of the scope of this report.

IRENA88

electricity supply This intervention favourable

from the food and energy perspectives could

putunanticipatedpressureonthewatersystem

(eginaridcountries)byencouragingexcessive

water use due to more aordable pumping To

pre-meditatesuch risks the need for wideruse

of analytical frameworks in the nexus context

has been raised globally (FAO b UNECE

andKTHGranitetalBazilianetal

)

Quantitative tools for analysing the nexus

impacts of energy policy can vary in terms of

comprehensivenessasillustratedinﬁgure





The left side of the ﬁgure represents the silo

approachtoenergypolicyinwhichpolicyinputs

andotherdatarelevanttotheenergysectorare

providedtoanenergymodelwhichinturnyields

outputs representing the energy sector under

suchpolicies(egtheresultingenergybalance)

disregarding the impacts on water and food

land A more comprehensive approach (in the

centre)consistsofabasicnexustoolthatreceives

policy and data inputs regarding the energy

sectorandalsobasicinputsrelevanttowaterand

foodlandandprovidesoutputsaboutthebasic

resource requirements (eg water and land) of

theanalysedenergypolicy

A comprehensive nexus tool (right side of the

ﬁgure) accepts detailed inputs of the three

sectors and provides information on basic

resource requirements (eg total land needed)

complementedwithqualityaspects(egtypesof

land)orotherissuesrelatedtoscaledistribution

equity or governance among others In some

cases(representedwithdottedbluearrows)the

outputsofoneanalysiscouldbeinputstoamore

comprehensiveone

T h e ﬁ g u r e d o e s n o t i n t e n d t o r e p r e s e n t a s e q u e n t i a l 

processsome comprehensivenexustoolscould

directlyperformthemostadvancedassessments

withoutpreviouslygoingthroughtheotherlevels

Preliminary nexus tools despitetheir limitations

(eglimitedscopeofquestionstheycananswer)

can be useful in bridging the gap between a

silo approach and a fully comprehensive nexus

assessmentespeciallywhentheresources(eg

timedataﬁnancialhuman)arelimited

Someinstitutionsarebeginningtoproposesuch

preliminary tools for instance the FAO’s nexus

assessment methodology presented in box 

(FAO b) The next section reviews both

simple and comprehensive nexus tools based

ona setofcriteriaandidentiﬁesexisting gaps

Otherrelevantreviewsofnexustoolsandrelated

frameworks(egintegratedassessmentmodels

ofclimatechange)canbefoundinFAO(b)

World Bank () Pollitt et al () and Tol

()

Policy and data input:

Energy

Water (comprehensive)

Food / Land (comprehensive)

Distributional issues

.....

Preliminary assestment of nexus

impacts of energy policies

Basic nexus tools

with energy as

entry point

Basic resource

requirements

Policy and data input:

Energy

Water (basic)

Food / Land (basic)

Traditional silo energy policy-making

Energy

Model

Energy

Balance

Policy and

data input:

Energy

Integrated assestment of nexus

impacts of energy policies

Comprehensive nexus

tools with energy

as entry point

Basic resource

requirements

Quality

Scale

Distribution/equity

...

Comprehensiveness of the analysis of nexus impacts of energy policy

Figure 3.3 Different levels of comprehensiveness in analysis of the nexus impacts of energy policy

Since the discussion is focused on energy, energy is considered to be the entry point for all tools in figure 3.3, even for the most

comprehensive ones placed on the right-hand side. In the figure, comprehensiveness does not necessarily mean complexity, since for

instance some energy models (which would be placed on the left-hand side) can themselves be quite complex.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

3.2 REVIEWING EXISTING NEXUS TOOLS:

SOME CURRENT GAPS

Several nexus tools exist with varying inputs

outputs or analytical characteristics The inputs

neededareusedtocharacterisethesystemsunder

study and their context Regarding the outputs

sometoolsfocusonasingleelementofthenexus

(egonlywater)othertoolsrepresenttwoormore

elementsandothersevenaddfurthercomponents

such as greenhouse gas emissions Lastly the

underlying analytical characteristics of the tools

can also dier for instance in ) their level of

accessibilitytoawidenumberofusers(egfrom

freeonline toolstocostlysoftwarepackages))

theirﬂexibilitytobeappliedtodierentcontexts

(egtovariouscountries))thelevelatwhichthe

toolsaredeﬁned(egwhilesometoolsaredeﬁned

atanationallevelothersfocusonthesub-national

or even local levels for instance considering a

singlewatershed



)or)theircomprehensiveness

anddegreeofcomplexityWhilethetypeofdata

required may vary between the dierent tools

most of them are highly data intensive which

inlightofthedicultyofobtainingqualitydata

representsakeyconstraintontheiruse

The review includes only tools that comply with

speciﬁc selection criteriaand doesnot intend to

be exhaustive The review criteria are grouped

into three categories inputs required outputs

provided (and therefore answered questions)

andanalyticalcharacteristics(seetable)This

approach allowsfor a structured review oftools

providing insights on what the tool needs what

the tool provides and how the tool works The

tools analysed in this report are selected based

onaselectioncriteriahighlightedintableand

justiﬁedinboxThereviewdoesnotdelveinto

aspectsofhowthetoolscanbeusedforscenario

characterisation and generation A detailed

discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of

each tool is out of the scope of this report but

relatedeortshavebeenundertakenbytheFAO

incollaborationwithothertooldevelopers





REVIEWCRITERIA SELECTIONCRITERIA

Inputrequirements

a) Maininputs —

Outputsansweredquestions

a) Thetoolaccountsfortheenergysystem

Atleasttwoofthe

three

b) Thetoolaccountsforthewatersystem

c) Thetoolaccountsforthefoodsystem

d) Thetoolaccountsforgreenhousegasemissions —

e) Thetoolproduceseconomicindicatorsnotablythecostsofthescenario —

f) Thetoolaccountsforlandrequirements —

Analyticalcharacteristics

a) Thetooliswidelyaccessiblereadytobeusedoropenaccess Yes

b) Thetoolallowsforpolicyanalysisatanationallevel Atleastnational

c) Thetoolcanbeappliedtodierentgeographies(ietodierentcountries) —

d)

Thetoolissimpleandprovidesvaluablepreliminaryassessmentsandit

incorporatesexplicitcontext-speciﬁcinputfromdecisionmakers

—

Table 3.1 List of the review and selection criteria

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains

off of it goes into the same place”.

The FAO hosted the workshop “Moving ahead to implement the nexus approach: lessons learned and discussion of next steps regarding

integrated assessment of water-energy-food needs in a climate change context”, which aimed to identify key lessons learned and current

strengths and weaknesses of existing nexus tools. The workshop took place in March 2013 in Rome, Italy.

IRENA90

Thespeciﬁcreviewcriteriaaredescribedasfollows

Inputs required the review criteria within this

group will allow the reader to understand the

main data and other types of inputs that are

requiredbythemodel

» Maininputs

Theseinputs represent themain information

that the tool needs in order to perform the

analysis be it in terms of data or of any

other quantitative or qualitative information

Theseinputsnormallywouldbeprovidedby

the user of the tool Some examples could

be the quantities and type of the existing

energyresourcesinthecountryunderstudy

the availability of dierent types of water

the accessible land for food production soil

typesorthecostsofdierentenergyorwater

technologies

Outputs and questions answered the review

criteriawithinthisgroupgiveinformationonthe

outputsthatcanbeexpectedfromthetooland

therefore which questions can potentially be

answeredbyusingit

» Thetoolaccountsfortheenergysystem

Tools that account for the energy system

can provide insights on aspects such as the

energymiximportsexportsofenergyorthe

installed capacity ofeach technology which

in turn can be used to answer questions of

relevancetothissector

» Thetoolaccountsforthewatersystem

Tools thataccountfor thewatersystemcan

provide insights on aspects such as the use

ofrenewablefreshwaterresourceshowmuch

water is consumed for dierent purposes or

the amount of withdrawals from dierent

sourcesofwater

» Thetoolaccountsforthefoodsystem

Tools that account for the food system can

provide insights on aspects such as food

productionprocessingstorageanddistribution

» The tool accounts for greenhouse gas

emissions

Policy making related to energy water or

foodland cannot be done in isolation from

climatechangebecausetherepercussionsare

BOX 3.2

JUSTIFICATION OF THE CRITERIA USED FOR THE SELECTION OF TOOLS

Thetoolisincludedinthereviewifitsatisﬁesthefollowingcriteria

•Itcovers at least two of the three elements of the water–food–energy nexus (i.e.waterand

energyfoodandenergyorwaterandfood)

Toidentifytoolsabletoinformdecisionmakingfromanexusperspectivethisreviewexcludestools

thatfocusonjustoneparticularelementofthenexusWhiletheperspectiveadoptedinthisreportis

energycentrictoolsthatdonotassessenergyexplicitly(butdoaddressbothwaterandfood)canin

somecasesprovideinterestingmethodologicalinsightsofapplicationtoenergy

•Itallowsforpolicyanalysisatanationallevel

Policymakersatdierentlevelsoftheadministrationrequireinsightsatnationalregional orlocal

levelstoguidetheirdecisionsInthisreviewtheprimaryfocusisontoolsprovidinginformationatthe

nationallevelForlargecountrieshoweversomeﬂexibilityisneededwhendealingattimeswithvery

dierentcircumstanceswithregardtotheelementsofthenexuswithinthecountryInthiscontext

thereviewalsoincludestoolsthatprovidethepossibilityofanalysingthenexuselementsatthesub-

nationalandlocallevels

•Itiswidelyaccessibleandreadytobeusedorithasopenaccess

Easeofaccessibilityforpotentialend-usersallowssometoolstobeappliedmoreeasilyindecision-

makingprocessesMoreoversometoolsarefreelyavailablewhichensuresevenwiderengagement

opportunitiesespeciallyforusersthatmaylackresourcesforexpensivemodellingsoftwareInany

caseitshouldbenotedthataccessibilitydoesnotalwaysmeanusefulness

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

clear and bi-directionalall three sectors are

substantialemittersofgreenhousegasesand

willbeaectedbyclimatechangeAlthough

accountingforthe eectsofclimatechange

on the elements of the nexus is outside the

scope of this report some of the reviewed

toolsaccountforthe eectsoftheanalysed

policies or scenarios on greenhouse gas

emissions A comprehensive nexus tool

could be able to analyse the trade-os that

mayexistbetweencarbonemissionsandthe

elementsofnexus(egnuclearpowerbeing

carbon-freebutalargewaterconsumer)

» The tool produces economic indicators

notablythecostsofthescenario

Since economic considerations are key to

policymakingsometoolsareabletoprovide

an appraisalof the economic implications of

the analysed scenarios or policies notably

the incurred costs The inclusion of non-

economiccosts(ieexternalities)canalsobe

ofrelevance for instanceto accountfor the

value of ecosystem services (eg keeping

forestlandunusedwhichcancapturesome

ofthecarbonemissionsandthereforereduce

theexternalityassociatedwiththem)

» Thetoolaccountsforlandrequirements

While land is widely available in some

countriesitrepresentsanimportantresource

constraint in others An example is Qatar

where land could be the resource most

aected by strategies pursuing enhanced

food self-suciency (Mohtar and Daher

) Some of the tools reviewed are able

toprovideinsightsintosuchissueswhichare

alsodescribedunderthisreviewcriterion

Analytical characteristics the review criteria

within this group describe some speciﬁc

analytical characteristics that are considered

relevantforthisreport

» The tool is widely accessible ready to be

usedoropenaccess

Although accessibility does not guarantee

usefulnessthepresentreviewcriterionanalyses

how accessible a tool is As explained in box

thisreportconsidersaccessibilitytobein

general a desirable feature in order to allow

forwideuseoftoolswhichwouldinturnbring

improvednexus-friendlydecisionmaking

» Thetoolallowspolicyanalysisatanationallevel

Policy makers at dierent levels of the

administrationrequireinformationatdierent

levels such as national regional or local to

guide their decisions This review criterion

addresses the level of the analysis carried

outbythetoolInthisreviewasexplainedin

box the primary focus is placed on tools

providinginformationatthenationallevel

» Thetoolcanbeadaptedtodierentcontexts

andgeographies(i.e.dierentcountries)

The present review criterion assesses

whetheratoolisﬂexibleenoughtoallowfor

application to dierent contextscountries

withoutfundamentallychangingitsstructure

For such application it should only require

newcountry-adaptedinputsanddata

» The tool is simple and provides valuable

preliminary assessments and it incorporates

explicitcontext-speciﬁcinputfromdecisionmakers

This review criterion considers some of the

internalworkingsofthetoolAlthoughanalytical

complexitiesmaybeneededforcomprehensive

nexus tools this chapter focuses on simple

tools By deﬁnition complexities should be

avoidedinsimpletoolssincetheymayprovide

resultsthatarenoteasilyunderstoodwhichin

turncouldleadtodistrustintheirimplications

Furthermoretomaximisetheengagementand

interestfromdecisionmakersthetoolshould

incorporatecontext-speciﬁcpolicypreferences

as explicit inputs to the analysis This can be

doneforinstancebyintroducingthedesired

levelofenergyindependenceorapreference

betweentwoconﬂictingpolicygoals

Based on the review criteria enumerated above

tablepresentsthereviewoftoolsshowcasing

whether the dierent criteria arecovered by the

eighttoolssurveyedandhighlightingcurrentgaps

Thetableisdesignedtoprovideavisualindication

oftheexistinggapsifacriterionisnotaddressed

byaspeciﬁctoolthecorrespondingcellwithinthe

tableiswhite(indicatinggaps)ifitisaddressed

the cell is shaded in blue and contains further

information

IRENA92

TOOLAND

REFERENCE

REVIEWCRITERIA

INPUTS

REQUIRED

OUTPUTSANSWEREDQUESTIONS

ANALYTICALCHARACTERISTICS

a)Maininputs a)Energy b)Water c)Food

d)Green-

housegas

emissions

e)Economic f)Land a)Accessibility

b)National

geographic

level

c)Di erent

geographies

d)Simplebutable

toprovidepreliminary

assessmentincluding

explicitpolicyinput

ClimateLand-use

EnergyandWater

(CLEW)

(Alfstad)

•Extensivedatarequirements

•Technicalandeconomic

parametersofpowerplantsfarming

machinerywatersupplychain

desalinationterminalsirrigation

technologiesfertiliserproduction

etc

•Energybalanceinclud-

ingpowergenerationand

r e ﬁ n i n g

•Energyforfood

•Foreign(virtual)energy

•Waterbalance

•Watersupplyanddesalina-

tion

•Waterpumping

•Waterforfood

•Waterforenergy

(hydropowerpowerplant

coolingbiofuelcrops)

•Irrigationtechnolo-

gies

•Useoffertilisers

•Useoffarming

machinery

•Localandfor-

eign(virtual)

•Cumulative

emissions

•Selectedeconomic

indicators

•Biofuelcrops

•Typesofland

accordingto

context

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

•National

•Global

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



TheWaterEnergy

FoodNexusTool

(MohtarandDaher

)

•Dataandlocalcharacteristicsof

foodwaterandenergysystems

•Localproductionoffoodwater

andenergy(pertype)

•Context-speciﬁ cpolicyinputs

•Implicationsoffoodpro-

ductiononenergytrade

•Energyforwater(pump-

ingtreatmentdesalination)

•Energyforfood(tillage

fertiliserproductiondistri-

butionharvest)

•Implicationsoffood

productiononlocaland

virtualwater

•Levelsoflocalpro-

ductionofdi erent

typesoffood

•Implicationsof

foodproduction

onemissions(lo-

calandvirtual)

•Costsoffood

production

•Landforfood

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

•National

•Canbeapplied

todi erentgeog-

raphies

•Simpleaccounting

framework

•Includespolicy

importancefor

sustainabilityindex

MARKALTIMES

(Loulouetal)

•Extensivedatarequirements

•Techno-economicdetailsofen-

ergytechnologies

•Characterisationofthereference

energysystem

•Energyplanningwithhigh

technologicaldetail

•Energybalances

•E ectivenessofenergy

policy

•Wateruseinenergysector 

•Emissionsfrom

energysector

•Totaldiscounted

costsofenergy

sectorincludingits

watersupply



•Applicabletoany

countryproprietary

graphicalinterface

required

•National

•Global

•Regional

•Local

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



WEAP-LEAP

(SEI)

•Extensivedatarequirement

•Techno-economicdetailsof

energytechnologies

•Detailedanalysisofenergy

demandtransformations

andstocks

•Energybalances

•Watershedhydrologyand

waterplanning

•Physicalandgeographical

simulationwaterdemands

andsupplies

•Groundwaterwaterquality

andconservationreservoirs

andhydropower



•Emissionsfrom

energysector

•Includesaﬁ nancial

module



•Engagementwith

developersispossible

freefordeveloping

countries

•National

•Global

•Canbeapplied

todi erentgeog-

raphies



FAO’snexusassessment

methodology

(FAO)

•Indicatorsthatarealreadyavail-

able

•Keyclassiﬁ cationsofthecountry

understudytoplaceitundercoun-

trytypologies

•Speciﬁ ctoeachtypeof

interventionbutalarge

choice(egenergycon-

sumptionandproduction)

•Speciﬁ ctoeachtypeofin-

terventionbutalargechoice

(egwaterpumpedwater

forenergyetc)

•Speciﬁ ctoeach

typeofintervention

butalargechoice

(egyieldshar-

vestedfoodetc)

•Speciﬁ ctoeach

typeofinterven-

tionbutalarge

choice(egcosts

incomesjobsetc)

•Speciﬁ cto

eachtypeof

intervention

butalarge

choice(eg

areasneeded

cultivatedland

etc)

•Largelydescribedin

(FAO)engage-

mentwithdevelopers

ispossible

•National

•Sub-national

•Canbeapplied

easilytodi erent

geographiesby

usingcountry

typologies

•Thenexusrapidappraisal

issimpleandrelieson

availableindicators

•Theuseofcountry

typologiesandthe

proposalofindicatorsfor

eachtypeofintervention

alsoeasestheuse

WBCSDNexustool

(WBCSD)

•Characterisationoftheenergy

sector

•GISmapsandinformation

•Characterisationofwaterforfood

andforenergy

•Informationonlabourforceand

availabilityofmachinery

•Energyforwater

•Energyforfood(forirriga-

tionfertiliserproductionor

machinery)

•Waterforenergy(for

powergenerationorfuel

production)

•Waterforfood(eggreen

waterbluewater)

•Foodproduction

•Landuse

•Engagementwith

developersispos-

siblefuturegraphical

interface

•National

•Global

•Regional

•Local

•Canbeapplied

todi erentgeog-

raphies

MuSIASEM

–TheFlow-FundModel

(FAO)

•Extensivedatarequirements

•Socio-economicindicatorsinclud-

ingworkforceevolution

•Availabilityofland

•Climatechangeimpacts

•Characterisationofallﬂ ows

•Energyﬂ owsinsociety

(offossilfuelsand

electricity)

•Waterﬂ owsinsociety(eg

fordrinkingdomesticuseir-

rigationindustrialprocesses

etc)

•Foodﬂ owsin

society

•Implications

ofallﬂ owson

emissions

•Costsandvalue-

added

•Landuse

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

hasbeenappliedto

di erentcountries

•National

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



DiagnosticFinancial

andInstitutionalTool

forInvestmentinWater

forAgriculture

(Salman)

•Fulldatasetsneededtocharacter-

iselocalirrigationandhydropower

projects

•Impactofhydropower

projectsinimprovinglocal

livelihoods

•Accesstoelectricity

•Watermanagement

•Waterforagricultureand

energy(hydropower)

•Watermanagement

•Foodsecurityag-

riculturalproduction

•Impactof

irrigationand

hydropoweron

emissions

•Contributionofag-

riculturetoGDPand

incomegeneration

•Investmentneeds

•Impactofirrigation

projectsinimprov-

inglocallivelihoods

•Cultivated

landandcrop

yields

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

hasbeenappliedto

di erentcountries

•National

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



Table 3.2 Review of eight different nexus tools

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

TOOLAND

REFERENCE

REVIEWCRITERIA

INPUTS

REQUIRED

OUTPUTSANSWEREDQUESTIONS

ANALYTICALCHARACTERISTICS

a)Maininputs a)Energy b)Water c)Food

d)Green-

housegas

emissions

e)Economic f)Land a)Accessibility

b)National

geographic

level

c)Di erent

geographies

d)Simplebutable

toprovidepreliminary

assessmentincluding

explicitpolicyinput

ClimateLand-use

EnergyandWater

(CLEW)

(Alfstad)

•Extensivedatarequirements

•Technicalandeconomic

parametersofpowerplantsfarming

machinerywatersupplychain

desalinationterminalsirrigation

technologiesfertiliserproduction

etc

•Energybalanceinclud-

ingpowergenerationand

r e ﬁ n i n g

•Energyforfood

•Foreign(virtual)energy

•Waterbalance

•Watersupplyanddesalina-

tion

•Waterpumping

•Waterforfood

•Waterforenergy

(hydropowerpowerplant

coolingbiofuelcrops)

•Irrigationtechnolo-

gies

•Useoffertilisers

•Useoffarming

machinery

•Localandfor-

eign(virtual)

•Cumulative

emissions

•Selectedeconomic

indicators

•Biofuelcrops

•Typesofland

accordingto

context

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

•National

•Global

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



TheWaterEnergy

FoodNexusTool

(MohtarandDaher

)

•Dataandlocalcharacteristicsof

foodwaterandenergysystems

•Localproductionoffoodwater

andenergy(pertype)

•Context-speciﬁ cpolicyinputs

•Implicationsoffoodpro-

ductiononenergytrade

•Energyforwater(pump-

ingtreatmentdesalination)

•Energyforfood(tillage

fertiliserproductiondistri-

butionharvest)

•Implicationsoffood

productiononlocaland

virtualwater

•Levelsoflocalpro-

ductionofdi erent

typesoffood

•Implicationsof

foodproduction

onemissions(lo-

calandvirtual)

•Costsoffood

production

•Landforfood

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

•National

•Canbeapplied

todi erentgeog-

raphies

•Simpleaccounting

framework

•Includespolicy

importancefor

sustainabilityindex

MARKALTIMES

(Loulouetal)

•Extensivedatarequirements

•Techno-economicdetailsofen-

ergytechnologies

•Characterisationofthereference

energysystem

•Energyplanningwithhigh

technologicaldetail

•Energybalances

•E ectivenessofenergy

policy

•Wateruseinenergysector 

•Emissionsfrom

energysector

•Totaldiscounted

costsofenergy

sectorincludingits

watersupply



•Applicabletoany

countryproprietary

graphicalinterface

required

•National

•Global

•Regional

•Local

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



WEAP-LEAP

(SEI)

•Extensivedatarequirement

•Techno-economicdetailsof

energytechnologies

•Detailedanalysisofenergy

demandtransformations

andstocks

•Energybalances

•Watershedhydrologyand

waterplanning

•Physicalandgeographical

simulationwaterdemands

andsupplies

•Groundwaterwaterquality

andconservationreservoirs

andhydropower



•Emissionsfrom

energysector

•Includesaﬁ nancial

module



•Engagementwith

developersispossible

freefordeveloping

countries

•National

•Global

•Canbeapplied

todi erentgeog-

raphies



FAO’snexusassessment

methodology

(FAO)

•Indicatorsthatarealreadyavail-

able

•Keyclassiﬁ cationsofthecountry

understudytoplaceitundercoun-

trytypologies

•Speciﬁ ctoeachtypeof

interventionbutalarge

choice(egenergycon-

sumptionandproduction)

•Speciﬁ ctoeachtypeofin-

terventionbutalargechoice

(egwaterpumpedwater

forenergyetc)

•Speciﬁ ctoeach

typeofintervention

butalargechoice

(egyieldshar-

vestedfoodetc)

•Speciﬁ ctoeach

typeofinterven-

tionbutalarge

choice(egcosts

incomesjobsetc)

•Speciﬁ cto

eachtypeof

intervention

butalarge

choice(eg

areasneeded

cultivatedland

etc)

•Largelydescribedin

(FAO)engage-

mentwithdevelopers

ispossible

•National

•Sub-national

•Canbeapplied

easilytodi erent

geographiesby

usingcountry

typologies

•

Thenexusrapidappraisal

issimpleandrelieson

availableindicators

•Theuseofcountry

typologiesandthe

proposalofindicatorsfor

eachtypeofintervention

alsoeasestheuse

WBCSDNexustool

(WBCSD)

•Characterisationoftheenergy

sector

•GISmapsandinformation

•Characterisationofwaterforfood

andforenergy

•Informationonlabourforceand

availabilityofmachinery

•Energyforwater

•Energyforfood(forirriga-

tionfertiliserproductionor

machinery)

•Waterforenergy(for

powergenerationorfuel

production)

•Waterforfood(eggreen

waterbluewater)

•Foodproduction

•Landuse

•Engagementwith

developersispos-

siblefuturegraphical

interface

•National

•Global

•Regional

•Local

•Canbeapplied

todi erentgeog-

raphies

MuSIASEM

–TheFlow-FundModel

(FAO)

•Extensivedatarequirements

•Socio-economicindicatorsinclud-

ingworkforceevolution

•Availabilityofland

•Climatechangeimpacts

•Characterisationofallﬂ ows

•Energyﬂ owsinsociety

(offossilfuelsand

electricity)

•Waterﬂ owsinsociety(eg

fordrinkingdomesticuseir-

rigationindustrialprocesses

etc)

•Foodﬂ owsin

society

•Implications

ofallﬂ owson

emissions

•Costsandvalue-

added

•Landuse

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

hasbeenappliedto

di erentcountries

•National

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



DiagnosticFinancial

andInstitutionalTool

forInvestmentinWater

forAgriculture

(Salman)

•Fulldatasetsneededtocharacter-

iselocalirrigationandhydropower

projects

•Impactofhydropower

projectsinimprovinglocal

livelihoods

•Accesstoelectricity

•Watermanagement

•Waterforagricultureand

energy(hydropower)

•Watermanagement

•Foodsecurityag-

riculturalproduction

•Impactof

irrigationand

hydropoweron

emissions

•Contributionofag-

riculturetoGDPand

incomegeneration

•Investmentneeds

•Impactofirrigation

projectsinimprov-

inglocallivelihoods

•Cultivated

landandcrop

yields

•Engagementwith

developersispossible

hasbeenappliedto

di erentcountries

•National

•Canbe(and

hasbeen)ap-

pliedtodi erent

geographiesbut

resourceintensive



IRENA94

An important conclusion that emerges from

the review is that data is often a key diculty

Extensivedatainputsareneededformostofthe

toolsandinmanycasestherequireddataarenot

available Understanding the data requirements

andthespeciﬁcdicultiesofdatacollectionacross

theinterconnectedsystemsofthenexusiscrucial

Examplesofthetypeofdatarequiredmayinclude

» information about the dierent elements of

thenexusseparately–thatisenergywateror

land (eg recoverable energy resources and

theirproductionpotentialandcostsrenewable

waterresourceaccessibilitytheavailabilityand

qualityoflandresourcesandtheircurrentuse

thedierentlevelsoffoodself-suciency)and

» dataonhowtheelementsofthenexusrelate

to each other (eg energy consumption in

water treatment processes water usage in

energyproductionlandrequirementsofpower

generation)

While obtaining data for the former (dierent

elements of the nexus independently) is

considerably dicult the challenges mount

when trying to obtain data linking two or more

elements of the nexus As discussed in box 

the cross-sectoral and multi-scale nature of the

nexus adds to the diculty of collecting and

compiling information Indeed many experts

highlight the challenge of accessing data or

insightsneededtosupportnexus-friendlydecision

makingbothfromindividualsectorsandbetween

sectors(IISD)Even incases wheredatais

available comparability is a challenge since data

collection methodologies and classiﬁcations may

bedierentbetweenthesectorsHenceasound

nexusassessmentbeneﬁtsfromstandardiseddata

gatheringeorts

TheissueofscaleinthedataisalsoadicultyWhile

itwould be suitable touse national energydata

thisisnotnecessarilythecaseforwaterasmany

hydrological relationships are scale dependent

and may be better characterised locally In the

case of land its characteristics (eg ownership

management development) and suitability for

dierentusescouldrequireevenmoreresolution

(egofjustafewmetres)makinggeo-referenced

datatheidealchoiceinthiscase

In response to these data challenges new

initiativesseektoaddresstheseandrelatedissues

includingthelackofasoundstructuredandwidely

accepted terminology understoodbyboth water

and energy experts The World Water Council

and Electricité de France (EDF) for instance

havelaunchedthe“WaterforEnergyFramework”

initiativewhichintendstoaddressthedierences

in water accounting methodologies across

dierent sectors In particular the initiative aims

to“developacommonlanguageandmethodology

throughtheenergysectortoaddresstheenergy

“impact”onwaterTheobjectiveoftheprojectis

the development of a conceptual and analytical

framework(and subsequenttools) for assessing

and reporting the relations between any energy

production activity and its water environment”

(WorldWaterCouncilandEDF)

Someofthereviewcriteriaarewellcoveredbythe

eighttoolssurveyedwhilethereisagapinsimple

toolsInparticular

» All reviewed tools provide outputs related to

energyandwater

» All reviewed tools are widely accessible and

theyallowforpolicymakingatanationallevel

» Allreviewedtoolscanbeadaptedtodierent

contextsandgeographies

» Seven of the eight tools provide economic

indicators

» Sixoftheeighttoolsprovideinsightsrelatedto

greenhousegasemissions

» Sixoftheeighttoolsprovideoutputsregarding

foodorland

» Twooftheeighttoolsareclassiﬁedassimple

tools

Mostofthereviewedtoolsaredesignedasdetailed

frameworksforcomprehensivenexusanalysesbut

not as simple user-friendly tools for preliminary

assessments As such these comprehensive

tools generally have signiﬁcant data needs and

areresourceintensiveintermsoftimecapacities

and ﬁnancing Only two tools are considered

to be simple providing valuable preliminary

assessments and incorporating explicit context-

speciﬁcinputfromdecisionmakersHoweverboth

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

BOX 3.3

DATA CHALLENGES IN THE WATER–ENERGY NEXUS

While it is relatively straightforward to obtain national data for energy water presents greater

challenges as reported bythe UN World Water Development Report (UN Water b) Annual

energy production transformation and consumption data are available for most countries from

sourcessuch as theIEA the UNthe World BankorIRENA Energycarriers such ascoal oiland

naturalgasaretradedinmarketswhetherglobalregionalorevennational(eggashubs)which

enhancesdataavailabilityforpricesortradedquantitiesascompiledforexamplebytheBPStatistical

ReviewofWorldEnergy

Similarmarketsdo notexistforwaterpartlyasaconsequenceofitsphysicalcharacteristics(ie

trans-boundary water ﬂows limited and costly trading of physical water) which makes it mainly

a local resource As a result it becomes dicult to assign a correct value to water While some

datasetsrelatingtowaterexist(egthoserelatedtowaterconsumptionwithdrawalsrenewable

freshwaterresourceswaterpollutionorwaterproductivitypublishedbysourcessuchasUNWater

theFAO’sAQUASTATtheWorldBankortheWorldResourcesInstitute)dataavailabilityforwateris

stillrelativelylimitedandimportantgapsremain

Data availability on energy and water becomes even more challenging when looking at it from a

water–energy nexus perspective While for instance there could be adequate data available on

waterconsumption(anareainwhichdataavailabilityislesslimited)andonelectricitygeneration

dataonwaterconsumptionforelectricitygenerationremainmuchmorelimitedFurthermorelack

ofinformation onthe cooling technologies used in powergeneration – which inﬂuence wateruse

estimations as much as the generation technology itself (Halstead et al ) – remains a key

challengeHydropowerandbioenergyareespeciallychallengingbecausetherelationofwateruseto

energyproduction(insteadofotherservices)isunclearForexamplewaterevaporationfromhydro

cannotberelatedentirelytopowergenerationbutalsocanbeattributedtootherservicesprovided

bythedamsuchasﬂoodcontrolorirrigation

Otherchallengesinclude)waterrequirementsinotherenergysectorsbeyondelectricity(egoil

extractionorreﬁning)areevenlessunderstood)itisoftenunclearwhetherwaterforenergydata

areexpressedperunitofgrossornetenergyoutput(UNWaterb))thewaterconsumption

patternsofenergytechnologiesvaryconsiderablydependingonthelocation(SEI)and)data

gapsbecomeevenlargerifthefulllifecycleofthetechnologiesisconsidered

As a consequence there is a lack of indicators for water–energy nexus interactions especially if

consistenttimeseriesareneededAdditionallywhendataareavailablecompatibilityofdatasets

across dierent resources and contexts is oftenchallenging The UN has recentlycalled for a co-

ordinationof approaches for data generationand harmonisation regarding watersupply and use

andenergyproductionItalsoproposesasetofindicatorsanddatasetswhichcouldhelpsupport

decisionmakerswithinthewater–energyspectrum(UNWaterb)

Itshouldbenotedhoweverthatsomestudiesareslowlyﬁllingthedatagaponthewater–energy

nexus On the water for energy front Spang et al () and the IEA () present updated

internationalcomparisonsofwateruseforbothprimaryenergyproductionandpowergeneration

Intheenergyforwaterdomainalthoughinternationalevidenceismorescattered(watersupplyis

morelocallyspeciﬁc)somesourcesprovidepartialdataondesalination(GlobalWaterIntelligence

)orforspeciﬁccountriessuchastheUnitedStates(WangCooleyandWilkinson)

GovernmentsalsoaretakingpositivestepsinCaliforniaforexampleabillwasunanimouslyapproved

thatrequiresoilcompaniestoreporthowmuchwatertheyuseindrillingoperationsandthesourceof

water(CaliforniaLegislativeInformation)

IRENA96

ofthemhavefoodastheentrypointsothereisa

gapforsimpletoolswithenergyastheentrypoint

The next section presents the conceptual

frameworkforatoolthatcontributes tobridging

thisgapThistoolisconceptuallyinspiredbythe

“Water Energy Food Nexus Tool ” (Mohtar

andDaher)whichhasfoodasitsentrypoint

and allows for preliminary assessments of nexus

impacts and trade-os The tool presented in

this report has energy as the entry point which

representsthemainconceptualdierencebetween

theminadditiontotheiranalyticalapproachThe

toolpresentedwouldbeabletoprovidevaluable

even if approximate snapshots of the impacts

of renewable energy deployment on the nexus

anditwoulddosoinashortperiodoftimewith

limiteduseofresources(eghumanorﬁnancial)

Suchsnapshotscouldserveasastartingpointfor

abroadermorecomprehensiveanalysisusingthe

toolsdiscussedearlier

3.3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF A

PRELIMINARY NEXUS ASSESSMENT TOOL

This section proposes the conceptual framework

foratoolthatcanconductpreliminaryassessments

ofbasicnexusimpactsofenergypolicyItisaimed

at addressing some of the gaps identiﬁed in the

previoussectionanditsmainoutputwouldbethe

basicresourcerequirements (egwater volumes

andlandareas)associatedwithaspeciﬁcenergy

policy This tool can integrate context-speciﬁc

inputs from policy makers present outputs in

a practical and easily accessible format and

would be analytically simple while still providing

preliminary insights Currently the tool is only a

conceptual proposal and could be enhanced in

futurework

The proposed conceptual framework is scenario

basedwherethecountry’senergybalanceisthe

main input for each scenario It would allow the

usertocreatedierentscenariosbymodifyingthe

energy balance associated with dierent policy

choices(egagreateruseofrenewableenergy)

andtoanalysetheresultingnexusimpactsEven

ifthefocusofthisreportisonrenewableenergy

the tool considers the complete energy balance

because a greater deployment of renewables

wouldnormallyinﬂuencethenexuselementsnot

just as a result of such deployment but also as

a result of the substitution of the other types of

energythatwouldhavebeenneededotherwise

To represent these substitutions the complete

energy balance needs to be considered Most

countriescompileenergybalancesaspartoftheir

nationalenergystatisticsandtheIEAgathersthis

informationinastandardisedandwidelyaccepted

formatonaregularbasis(IEAc)Thiswide

acceptance is a key advantage of using energy

balance as the basis of the proposed conceptual

frameworkAnexampleofsuchanenergybalance

isgiveninbox

The conceptual framework assumes the

energy balance as an exogenous input without

questioningwhetheritisfeasiblefromatechnical

perspective as it is not an energy model For

instanceapenetrationofvariablerenewable

powergeneration may not be technically viable

foraspeciﬁccountrybutthetoolwouldaccept

suchanenergybalanceasaninputThisimplies

that the proposed tool would normally be used

after an energy model (eg MARKALTIMES

which mayalso be data andresourceintensive)

hasbeenruntodevelopenergysectorscenarios

and to identify feasible energy balances for the

future(inasimilarwayasrepresentedintheleft-

handsideofﬁgure)

The ﬁrst step in the use of the proposed tool

is to provide a baseline energy balance that

correspondstoareferenceenergypolicyscenario

Thebaselineenergy balancecould representthe

energy scenario at the time of the analysis(eg

)orareferencecaseinthefuture(eg)

basedonapreviousenergyforecastingmodelling

exercise

Thesecondstepistoprovideanalternativeenergy

balance which represents the energy policy

scenariotobeanalysedfromanexusperspective

(eg putting stronger emphasis on renewable

energy) It would also be based on an energy

modelling exercise normally carried out by the

energyauthoritiesofthecountrySuchanenergy

balance should reﬂect changes in the energy

types that are modiﬁed by the analysed policy

(eg increased use of solar energy if the policy

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

BOX 3.4

EXAMPLE OF AN ENERGY BALANCE

EnergybalancesinthestandardisedformatcompiledandpublishedbytheIEAprovideasound

conciseandusefuloverviewofthefullenergysectorofacountryinagivenyear–speciﬁcallyhow

energy was produced traded transformed and consumed The columns represent the dierent

energytypes(egcoaloilnaturalgasetc)whiletherowsrepresentthedierentstagesofthe

supply and consumption chain of each energy type (mainly primary energy production imports

exportsenergytransformationandﬁnalconsumption)

Table  represents an energy balance for an imaginary country excluding the details in the

transformationsectorandinﬁnalenergyconsumptionThebalanceisbasedontheIEA’smethodology

andisexpressedinpetajoules(PJ)Thecountry’sprimaryenergyproductionmainlyincludes coal

(PJ)bioenergy(PJ)andsolarenergy(PJ)accountingforatotalofPJThecountryalso

reliesonimportingenergymainlycrudeoil(PJ)oilproducts(PJ)andnaturalgasuptoatotal

ofPJThecountryalsoexportsenergymainlyintheformofreﬁnedoilproducts(PJ*)and

crudeoilwhichamounttoPJ(exportsarerepresentedwithminussignsbecauseoftheirnegative

contributiontowardsenergyuseinthecountry)Asaresultthemainenergysourceinthiscountry’s

total primary energy supply(TPES)iscrudeoil with PJ followed bycoaland thetotalTPES

(includingallenergytypes)isPJ

Thenextlineoftheenergybalancerepresentsthetransformationsector(egelectricitygeneration

plantsoilreﬁneriesetc)Negativevaluesmeanthatanenergytypeisaninputtoatransformation

andpositivevaluesmeanthatitisanoutput(egPJofcrudeoilwereconvertedintoPJofoil

productsandpartofthePJofelectricitygeneratedfromdierentsources)Totalﬁnalconsumption

(TFC)ofenergy(ieenergyconsumedbythedierentsectorsoftheeconomy)consistsmainlyofoil

products(PJ)electricityandbioenergyamountingtoPJThecountrydoesnotusenuclear

energy

Theseenergybalancesbydeﬁnitionneedtobebalanced**foreachenergysource(iecolumn)

thetotalprimaryenergysupplyneedstoequaltheamountofenergyusedfortotalﬁnalconsumption

andfortransformationsTheoverallbalanceforallenergytypes(the“Total”column)alsocomplies

withthisproperty

Source: Based on IEA energy balance methodology

* A country can both import and export the same energy type in a same year. For instance, the imports and exports could take

place in different seasons, or in different geographic areas of the country. The energy balances show both exports and imports

(instead of a net value) in order to capture this information.

** Except for statistical differences.

Energybalance

(PJ)

Coal Crude

oil

Oil

products

Natural

gas

Nuclear Hydro-

power

Solar

energy

Bioen-

ergy

Elec-

tricity

Total

Production      

Imports       

Exports - -  - -

Totalprimary

energysupply

(TPES)

  -      

Transformation

sector

- -  - - -   -

Totalﬁnal

consumption

(TFC)

        

Table 3.3 Example of a simplified energy balance, excluding details in transformation sector and final

consumption

IRENA98

promotes renewables) and should be consistent

withthebaseline energy balance withrespect to

the energy policies that have not changed (eg

if energy eciency remains the same total ﬁnal

consumptionofenergyshouldbethesameinboth

energybalances



)Theproposedtoolwouldthen

estimatetheincrementalenergybalancebysimply

subtractingthealternativeandthebaselineenergy

balancesThe incremental energy balance would

representthechangesintheenergysituationdue

totheanalysedpolicy

Asanextsteptheproposedtoolwouldestimate

thewaterland



emissionsandcost



implications

oftheincrementalenergybalancetheseprovide

insights about the basic resources cost and

emissions implications of the analysed energy

policy The tool would multiply the incremental

energybalancebydatamatriceswhichrepresent

for each type of energy (columns of the energy

balance)andforeachstageoftheenergysupply

chain(rowsoftheenergybalance)theamountof

waterorlandrequiredperenergyunittheamount

ofemissionsproducedineachofthosestagesper

energy unit or the unitary cost incurred This is

illustratedinﬁgurewhereeachofthesedata

matricesarerespectivelycalledWaterforEnergy

LandforEnergyEmissionsofEnergyandCostsof

EnergyThesedatamatricesareexogenousinputs

andnormallywouldbespeciﬁctothecountryor

contextunderstudyTheresultofthisstepwould

be the basic incremental



 use of water or land

resources(egvolumeofwaterareaofland)the

incremental costs



 or the incremental emissions

produced by the analysed energy policy all else

beingequal

It should be noted that this does not reﬂect any

type of feedback or second-round eect (egif

morewaterisneededforenergylesswatercould

be available for human use which could imply a

higherneedfordesalinationwhichinturnwould

imply more energy) This is out of the scope of

the proposed conceptual framework which as

explained above is intended to be analytically

simpleSincethetoolanalysesaproposedchange

in the energy balance for one year it can be

consideredastatictoolTheoutputobtainedupto

thispoint(ieincrementaluseofresources)could

berelevantforthepolicymakersinceitprovides

theimplicationsoftheanalysedpolicyexpressed

in physical units (eg additional cubic metres of

waterreducedtonnesofCO



emissions)

The tool provides information about the nexus

implicationsoftheanalysedpolicy



notabouthow

thepolicyshouldbedesignedinordertominimise

such nexus implications For example the tool

can provide information on the land required for

reaching a speciﬁc solar energytarget but does

notconsiderhowmuchlandisactuallyavailable

Furthermoreasnotedabovethis approachonly

provides information about the basic resource

requirements but does not provide information

related to the quality distribution or conﬂicting

uses of these resources These represent an

important next stage of analysis For instance

solar PV may withdraw substantially less water

thannuclearbutthetypeofwaterrequiredmay

bedierent(egfreshwaterorseawater)aneect

thatsuchatoolwouldnotcapture

The last step of the proposed conceptual

framework is to assess whether the incremental

use of resources oremissions areacceptable As

introduced before a policy could have the same

nexusperformanceintwodierentcontextsbut

beacceptableinonlyoneofthem(FAOb)

For instance the same renewable energy policy

(egpromoting large-scale solar PV)applied to

twodierentaridcountriescouldyieldthesame

results in terms of water and land (eg savings

This is just an illustrative example. It should be noted that energy eciency is a fundamental pillar of any sustainable energy policy,

alongside renewable energy.

Even if, throughout the report, the focus has been on water, energy and food, the proposed tool will estimate the land impacts of the

analysed policy, since this is considered here to be the actual resource. The proposed tool still complies with the criteria presented in

previous sections, because it does include two (i.e., energy and water) out of the three water, energy and food nexus elements.

This refers to purely economic/monetary costs. External costs are out of the scope of this tool, even if certainly relevant. The monetary

costs that would be accounted for would be an estimation of the total cost incurred to supply energy, i.e., including investment, operation

and maintenance and any other costs. Since the tool is static, discounting (e.g. to calculate a Net Present Value) would only be necesary

if the analysed year refers to the future. The tool does not minimise the cost, as an optimisation tool, such as MARKAL/TIMES, would.

The word incremental in this context represents both positive and negative values, i.e., increases or reductions.

The proposed tool could produce the increment/reduction in total energy supply cost that the alternative energy balance implies, but

could not inform about how this is translated into changes in the energy prices paid by consumers. This would involve other aspects of

energy markets that are out of the scope of this report, such as subsidies or competition.

In a similar way as in “integrated energy planning”.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

of cooling water for thermal generation and

additional land needed) However such results

maynotbeacceptableinoneofthetwocountries

(eg if a political decision has been made to

prioritiselanduseforfoodproductionoverother

usessuchaspowergeneration



)Thisisthetype

ofcontext-speciﬁcinformationthatapolicymaker

wouldneed the tool toincorporatein its results

andthisisthemainobjectiveofthelaststepofthe

proposedframework

In conducting such an analysis policy makers

woulddirectlyinputtheacceptableincrementsin

waterlandemissionsandcostsThedeﬁnitionof

acceptabilitycanbesubjectivedieringbetween

countriesbutalsobetweenpolicymakersorother

stakeholders within the same country and can

alsochangeovertimeFurthermoretheveryuse

ofnexustoolssuchastheoneproposedheremay

initiate a political debatein which these levelsof

acceptability are evaluated (ie the use of tools

could and sometimes should trigger political

debates around these issues) Going deeper into

such aspects is out of the scope of this report

whichconsiderstheseacceptablelevelsasagiven

input(egasdeﬁnedbyapolicymaker)

As illustrated in ﬁgure  comparing these

acceptablelevelswiththeonesinthecaseofthe

alternativeenergybalance(baselineincremental)

wouldproducefourpartialindexes(WaterIndex

Land IndexCostIndexandEmissionsIndexWI

LI CI and EI respectively in ﬁgure ) all of

which are expressed in per unit (pu) terms An

exampleisgivenintableinwhichanimaginary

windenergydeploymentstrategywouldproduce

areductionofwateruseofmillionm



andan

incrementof landuse of km



Combined with

theirrespectivebaselinelevelsandcomparedwith

theacceptablelevelstheobtainedWaterIndexis

andtheobtainedLandIndexis

Ifanyoftheseindexestakesavaluegreaterthan

one (as is the case with land in the example) it

meansthattheacceptablelimithasbeenexceeded

and the opposite occurs if the index is smaller

thanone



Finallythefourpartialindexescanbe

aggregatedintoan“overallindex”accordingtothe

E (GJ) Coal SolarNat. Gas Hydro Wind

Bioen-

ergy

Elec-

tricity

Oil

Final consumption

Transformations

Production

Imports

Exports

Incremental Energy Balance

Incremental

water (m

)

Incremental

land (m

)

Incremental

emissions (tCO

)

Incremental

cost ($)

Cost ($/GJ)

Costs of energy

Emissions of energy

Emissions

(tCO

/GJ)

L4E (m

/GJ)

Land for energy

W4E (m

/GJ)

Water for energy

Figure 3.4 Estimation of the water, land, emissions and cost implications of the assessed energy policy

If a policy maker already has made a decision regarding land allocation to dierent uses, it means that some type of integrated think-

ing/planning of resources (as opposed to silo) may already have been done. The proposed tool aims to further enhance the capabilities

of policy makers to perform such integrated thinking/planning.

Since the incremental values would in general be small or, at the most, relatively similar to the baseline values, the different indexes

would in principle not take negative values. If they are similar to the baseline values, and negative, it would imply an almost complete

shift away from that energy source.

IRENA100

policy importance (“Pol Imp” in ﬁgure ) that

eachofthefouraspectshasinthespeciﬁccountry

asindicatedbythepolicymakerIncountrieswhere

a resource is deemed critical the policy maker

coulddecidetoplaceaheavierimportancetoits

corresponding index increasing its inﬂuence on

theﬁnaloverallindexIntheexamplelandcould

haveasigniﬁcantpolicyimportance(forinstance

ifthepriorityistouselandforfoodproductionand

notforenergy)and thereforethecorresponding

parameter(“Pol Imp Land” in ﬁgure) would

be larger than in a country where land is not a

constrained resource This means that an over-

utilisation of land is importantly reﬂected in the

ﬁnaloverallindex

Theoutputsderivedfromtheproposedframework

could serve as a building block for an in-depth

qualitativeandquantitativeanalysisWhilecertain

qualitative aspects are addressed through the

inputsprovidedbyusersatdierentstepsofthe

proposedtoolamoredetailedassessmentcould

be required For instance once the incremental

quantities of each resource are assessed further

analysis is required on context-speciﬁc quality

aspects such as the types of dierent water

or land resources The proposed framework

could also constitute a starting point for a more

comprehensive and detailed quantitative nexus

assessment for instance through the tools

discussedearlierinthechapter

3.4 CONCLUSION

Todaymostofthepolicydecisionswithpotential

eectsontheelementsoftheenergywaterand

food nexus are made by separate institutions

(eg dierent ministries dierent levels of the

administration) which often lack co-ordination

Thechallengesposedbythenexusarepartlythe

consequence of such fragmented policy making

applied to resources that are interrelated and

increasinglyscarce

In this context a fully integrated approach to

resource planning in line with the concept of

integrated resource management would be

desirable for nexus-friendly policy making

Although such a fully integrated approach could

bechallengingausefulstartingpointwouldbeto

analyse howthe decisions taken for one speciﬁc

resource aect the others (ie an “entry point”

approach)Inparticularandfromtheperspective

of energy policy making this would imply

understandingthewaterandfoodimplicationsof

Acceptable Emiss. (tCO

)

Acceptable Cost ($)

Acceptable Land (m

)

Acceptable Water (m

)

Baseline + Incr. Water (m

)

Acceptable Water (m

)

= WI (p.u.)

Baseline + Incr. Land (m

)

Acceptable Land (m

)

= LI (p.u.)

Baseline + Incr. Emiss. (tCO

)

Acceptable Emiss. (tCO

)

= EI (p.u.)

Baseline + Incr.Cost ($)

AcceptableCost ($)

= CI (p.u.)

Input from

policy-maker

Overall

Index

Incremental

Water (m

)

Incremental

Land (m

)

Incremental

Emissions (tCO

)

Incremental

Cost ($)

Pol.Imp.

Water (%)

Pol.Imp.

Land (%)

Pol.Imp.

Emiss. (%)

Pol.Imp.

Cost (%)

Input from

policy-maker

Figure 3.5 Use of policy inputs to estimate the water, land, emissions and cost implications of the

analysed energy policies and to aggregate them into a context-specific overall index

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

DECISION MAKING TOOLS WITH A NEXUS PERSPECTIVE

101

energydecisionsAnalyticalframeworkscouldbe

veryusefulforthispurpose

This chapter has reviewed some of the existing

toolsSomeofthekeyﬁndingsinclude

» Data availability and accessibility is a key

challenge To undertake sound nexus

assessments data for respective sectors

is necessary as well as those that can help

quantify the interconnections and trade-

os (eg data on water use for energy)

Standardiseddatacollectioneortscouldhelp

overcome existing challenges associated with

consistency comparability scale and the lack

oftimeseriesdata

» Most tools available to policy makers today

are detailed and sophisticated designed to

conduct thorough nexus analyses Therefore

manyhavesigniﬁcantdataandresourceneeds

intermsoftimehumanandﬁnancialcapacity

» Accordinglythereviewidentiﬁestheneedfor

preliminaryassessmenttoolsthatcanprovide

valuable initial assessments Such tools could

serveasastartingpointforassessingimpacts

of policy discussions on dierent sectors and

possiblypavingthewayfortheapplicationof

moresophisticatedtoolsThetwopreliminary

assessment tools included in this review (ie

theFAO’snexusassessmentmethodologyand

theWaterEnergyFoodNexusTool)have

foodastheentrypointNoneappearstohave

energyasanentrypoint

Theconceptualframeworkproposedinthischapter

ismeanttostimulatethinkingonapreliminarytool

with energy as an entry point and to provide a

starting point for what could eventually support

the integration of nexus thinking within energy

sectordecisionmakingTheconceptualframework

would be able to provide snapshot views of the

impacts of renewable energy deployment (and

other energy strategies) on the basic resource

requirementsofnexuselements(egvolumesof

waterandareasofland)

The proposed tool is scenario based each

scenariorepresentsadierentsetofenergypolicy

decisionssummarisedasenergybalanceswhich

become the main input for each scenario The

proposed tool would estimate the water land

emissionsandcostimplicationsofeachscenarioto

ﬁnallyaggregatethemintoanoverallindexwhich

explicitly considers policy preferences speciﬁc to

eachcontext

The outputs provided by the proposed tool

could constitute a ﬁrst stage towards a more

comprehensiveanalysisoftheimpactsofrenewable

energydeploymentonthewaterenergyandfood

nexusindierentcontextsAlthoughthisisoutof

thescopeofthepresentreportitcouldbeafocus

offutureworkbyIRENA

Table 3.4 Example of the calculation of water and land indexes associated with an imaginary wind

energy deployment strategy

Incrementalwateruse

(millionm



)

Baselinewateruse

(millionm



)

Acceptablewateruse

(millionm



)

WaterIndex

WI(pu)

-  

Incrementallanduse

(km



)

Baselinelanduse

(km



)

Acceptablelanduse

(km



)

LandIndexLI(pu)

  

-







IRENA102

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS 103

UNITED KINGDOM

BackgroundTheUKelectricitysectorcomprises

 thermoelectric generation capacity based

primarilyonfossilfuelsIntotalgeneration

included  renewable energy (IEA a)

In England and Wales the electricity sector

constitutesabouthalfoftotalwaterwithdrawals

including  of all freshwater withdrawals In

  of the UK’s thermoelectric cooling

waterwithdrawalscamefromfreshwatersources

fromtidalwatersources fromseawater

andofthermoelectricplantswereaircooled

(Byersetal)InEnglandandWalesand

 respectively of water catchments are over-

licensedandafurtherhavenowateravailable

forfurtherlicencing(Byersetal)Moreover

water withdrawals are regulated in the UK to

reducedamagetomarineenvironmentsaswellas

tobettermanagefreshwaterallocation

Options By  the share of renewables is

expected toreach  under Reference Case In

REmap  the share of renewable energy in

theUKelectricitymixwillincreasefurtherto

Inthiscasecoalpowerwillnearlybephasedout

andwillbereplacedbyrenewablesandcombined-

cyclenaturalgaspowerplants

Impact on water consumption and withdrawal

InREmaptheanalysisfoundasavings

in total water consumption compared to the

ReferenceCaseconsumingbillionm



ofwater

compared to  billion m



 of water (see ﬁgure

A) For total water withdrawals REmap 

seessavingscomparedtotheReferenceCase

withwaterwithdrawalsof billion m



and

billionm



respectively

The reductions in water consumption and

withdrawalsforREmapareduelargelytothe

signiﬁcantscale-upofwindandsolarPV energy

REmap  will decrease shares of nuclear

energy(withhightidalandseawaterwithdrawals)

andcoalthermalpowerplants(withhigherwater

consumption rates than most natural gas power

plants) These results are in line with a study by

Byers et al () comparing water use under

dierent decarbonisation pathways for the UK’s

electricity sector In scenarios with high levels of

nuclear withdrawals of tidewater and seawater

increase signiﬁcantly Although volumes of sea

level withdrawals can be inconsequential the

evidence examined indicated a lack of suitable

sites for wide-scale nuclear power if negative

environmentalimpactsaretobeavoided

Assumptions Shares of cooling methods for

thermalpowerplantsarebasedprimarilyonﬁgures

ininByersetal()usingdatafromthe

Department of Energy and Climate Change (see

tableA)Theanalysisconsiderstheconversionof

allinlandcoalplantstoclosed-loopordrycooling

systems by  In addition all nuclear power

plantsareassumedtobelocatedalongthecoast

utilisingopen-loopcooling systemsthatuse tidal

waterandseawaterascoolingsourcesAllnatural

gas power plants are assumed to be combined

The electricity mix composition for the two cases – REmap 2030 and the Reference Case – are based

on preliminary results from IRENA’s ongoing REmap 2030 analysis as of June 2014, which could be

updated as national plans are modied and further inputs are received from governments. The analysis

presented here is preliminary and will be updated as more details become available on national plans,

country-specic water factors, trends in cooling technology adoption and breakdown on type of water

utilised within the power sector.

In this section, for each of the countries analysed, the discussion begins with a background on the

electricity sector, denition of the REmap cases (REmap 2030 and Reference), illustration of the impacts

on water consumption and withdrawal., and main assumptions used in the analysis.

ANNEX

IRENA104

cyclepredominatelybasedonclosed-loopcooling

Biomasspowerplantsareassumedtomostlyuse

drycoolingmethodsDuetolackofdataonCSP

andGeothermalnewcapacityisassumedtousea

mixofclosedloopanddrycoolingmethods

 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Background The US electricity mix is based

primarily on thermal electric power production

using fossil fuels In  coal and natural

gas constituted  and  respectively of

electricity generation sources with renewable

energy comprising  of total generation (EIA

) Thermal electric power plants make up

 of all freshwater withdrawals and  of all

freshwater consumption annually in the country

Currently of the   cooling systems in the

United States  use closed-loop cooling 

use once-through cooling and the remaining

use dry or hybrid systems (National Energy

Technology Laboratory (NETL) ) Under

USEnvironmentalProtectionAgencyguidelines

regulationsareinplaceonwaterintakeratesand

encourage replacement of once-through cooling

systems with closed-loop cooling towers or dry

cooling(EPAb)

Options By  the share of renewables is

expectedtoreachundertheReferenceCase

withmodestincreasesinwindsolarandbiomass

In REmap  the share of renewable energy

Table A.1 Shares of cooling methods for UK thermal power plants by generation type in 2030

GenerationType

WetCooling

AirDryCooling

Once-through ClosedLoop

Coal   

NaturalGas   

Oil   

Nuclear   

Biomass   

CSP   

Geothermal   

Water withdrawals (billion m

)

Water consumption (billion m

)

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

Solar PV

Oil

Biomass

Natural Gas

Coal

Nuclear

CSP

Geothermal

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(b)

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(a)

Figure A.1 Projected water (a) consumption and (b) withdrawals under Reference Case and REmap 2030

for the United Kingdom

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS 105

ANNEX

electricitymixwillfurtherincreasetoInthis

case wind solar biomass and hydropower are

expectedtoseeascale-upindeploymentrelative

to

Impact on water consumption and withdrawal

In REmap  electricity generation consumes

billionm



ofwatercomparedtobillionm





in the Reference Case – a  reduction The

majority of this reduction comes from the high

deployment level of wind and solar PV energy

replacingexistingcoalplantsWithdrawalsare

lowerinREmapcomparedtotheReference

Case with  billion m



 and  billion m



 of

withdrawals respectively (see ﬁgure A) Coal

and nuclear withdrawal requirements make up

thebulkofwateruseThereductionsincoaland

nuclearinREmapcomparedtotheReference

Caseaccountforthemajorityofwaterwithdrawal

savings

Thetrendsofthisanalysisdrawsimilarconclusions

toa study by Macknick et al (b) simulating

water consumption and withdrawalrequirements

for US energy pathways to  In Macknick

et al (b) scenarios with water withdrawal

reductions were attributed to the retirement of

once-through cooled thermal generation and

replacementwithnewcoalthermalpowerplants

usingclosed-loopcoolingtechnologiesInaddition

scenariosofhighsharesofrenewabletechnologies

USA - Sum of Water Consumption

Water consumption (billion m

)

Water withdrawals (billion m

)

100

120

140

160

180

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(a)

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(b)

Solar PV

Oil

Biomass

Natural Gas

Coal

Nuclear

CSP

Geothermal

Figure A.2 Projected water (a) consumption and (b) withdrawals under Reference Case and REmap 2030

for the United States

Table A.2 Shares of cooling methods for US thermal power plants by generation type in 2030

GenerationType

WetCooling

AirDryCooling

Once-through ClosedLoop

Coal   

NaturalGas   

Oil   

Nuclear   

Biomass   

CSP   

Geothermal   

IRENA106

lead to the most signiﬁcant reductions in water

consumptionandwithdrawals

Assumptions The percentage of once-through

closedloopanddrycoolingtechnologyforeach

generation source is based on data for cooling

technologymixfromNETL()Thedatahas

been adapted to account for an expected shift

towards closed loop and dry cooling methods

in  (See table A) Accordingly this

analysisassumesthatallnewthermalgeneration

(natural gas biomass coal nuclear CSP and

geothermal)employsclosed-loopordrycooling

methodstocomplywithEPAguidelinesonwater

withdrawals(EPAb)ForCSPinparticular

 of capacity is assumed to use dry cooling

based on current trends in cooling methods

and environmental regulation seen regions with

proposed projects such as California The mix

of cooling methods for geothermal is based on

waterdemandscenariosforgeothermalin

conductedbyHartoetal()

 GERMANY

Background Germany’s electricity generation in

wasbasedprimarilyoncoal()andnuclear

()withexpandingsharesofrenewableenergy

() and natural gas () (Federal Statistical

Oce of Germany ) In  the German

government decided to phase out all nuclear

energy by  Thermal power plants have the

largest water withdrawal demands of any sector

in Germany requiring  billion m



 of water

annuallyalmostexclusivelyfromsurfacewatersas

coolingwaterforenergyproduction(Kirschbaum

andRichter)Theelectricitysectorasawhole

consumedanestimatedbillionm



offreshwater

in(Spangetal)

Table A.3 Shares of cooling methods for German thermal power plants by generation type in 2030

GenerationType

WetCooling

AirDryCooling

Once-through ClosedLoop

Coal   

NaturalGas   

Oil   

Biomass   

Geothermal   

Germany - Sum of Water Consumption

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Water consumption (billion m

)

Water withdrawals (billion m

)

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(b)

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(a)

Solar PV

Oil

Biomass

Natural Gas

Coal

Nuclear

CSP

Geothermal

Figure A.3 Projected water (a) consumption and (b) withdrawals under Reference Case and REmap 2030

for Germany

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS 107

ANNEX

Options Under REmap  the share of

renewables will grow to  of electricity

generation with a total phase-out of nuclear

energy and a reduction in coal This features a

largeboostinwindsolarandbiomassgenerating

capacityandamodestgrowthinnaturalgaspower

production In the Reference Case renewables

reachofpowergeneration

Impact on water consumption and withdrawal

The analysis shows  less annual water

consumption in REmap  compared to

the Reference Case with  billion m



 and

 billion m



 of water consumed respectively

(seeﬁgureA)Thiscanbeattributedtoalarger

share of wind energy in REmap  with a

negligible water footprintand areduction in the

shareofcoalthermalpowerplantswhichmakeup

thebulkofwaterconsumption

Similarlytotalwaterwithdrawalsaresigniﬁcantly

lowerinREmapcomparedtotheReference

Case Both cases show a total decrease in

withdrawals in  compared to government

statisticsforwaterwithdrawalsin(billion



)duetoreplacementoflargesharesofcoaland

nuclear energy with solar PV and wind energy

REmap  and the Reference Case result in

billionm



an d b ill i o n m



ofwa te rw ith dr awa l s 

respectively–areductionundertheREmap

 case compared with the Reference Case

Water withdrawals for coal power comprise the

majority of total withdrawals with the modest

shareofplantswithonce-throughcoolingsystems

havingthegreatestwithdrawalamounts

Assumptions Due to lack of national data for

Germany shares of cooling methods for thermal

powerplantsareadaptedfromByersetal()

predictionsfortheUKbasedonexpectedtrendsin

theGermanenergysector(seetableA)Aswell

visualinspectionofthermalpowerplantlocations

inGermanywasusedtoestimatecoolingmethod

shares(Enipediaa)Theanalysisconsidersthe

conversionofallinlandcoalplantstoclosed-loop

or dry cooling systems by  All new natural

gas power plants are assumed to be combined

cycle based on closed-loop and dry cooling

Biomasspowerplantsareassumedtomostlyuse

closedloopcoolingmethodsDuetolackofdata

ongeothermalnewcapacityisassumedtousea

mixofclosedloopanddrycoolingmethods

 AUSTRALIA

Background Australia’s electricity mix is

composed primarily of thermoelectric power

plants In  coal and natural gas thermal

power plants generated  and  of total

electricityrespectivelyHydropowerproduced

of generation while wind and solar cumulatively

contribute  (IEA ) Around  of

generating capacity in the national electricity

marketdependsonfreshwaterforthermalpower

plantcooling(SmartandAspinall)Hotand

dryrecentyearshaveputpressureonAustralia’s

freshwaterresourcesandgovernmentandpower

plants have played a proactive role in reducing

water use for power plants with a high share of

coal power plants adopting closed-loop cooling

technologies

Options In REmap  renewables comprise

 of electricity generation with increases in

solarPVandwindenergyIntheReferenceCase

renewablesreachofthetotalelectricitymix

Impact on water consumption and withdrawal

REmap  consumes  less water than

the Reference Case with each case consuming

billionm



andbillionm



respectively(see

ﬁgureA)Thedecreaseiscausedbythelarger

sharesofwindandsolarPVandthereductionin

coalthermalpowerplantsinREmapWater

withdrawalstotalledbillionm



inREmap

and  billion m



 in the Reference Case The

comparedwatersavingsareThiscanalsobe

attributedtolowersharesofelectricitygenerated

bycoalandhighersharesfromsolarPVandwind

inREmapcomparedtotheReferenceCase

AssumptionsSharesofcoolingmethodsforther-

mal power plants are adapted from  data

compiledinSmart&Aspinall()Theanalysis

assumesthatclosedloopcoolingtechnologieswill

remainthemostcommonformofcoolingin

followed by dry cooling given trends in cooling

methods for the arid conditions (see table A)

As wellvisualinspectionofthermal powerplant

locationsinAustraliawasusedtoestimatecooling

method shares (Enipedia b)All natural gas

IRENA108

powerplantsare assumedtobe combined cycle

predominatelybasedonclosed-loopcoolingBio-

masspowerplantsareassumedtomostlyusedry

and closedloopcooling methods Due tolackof

dataon geothermalnewcapacity isassumed to

useamixofclosedloopanddrycoolingmethods

 INDIA

Background The electricity mix in India is

dominatedbycoal-basedpowerplantsfollowed

by hydropower and natural gas (IEA ) In

 renewables made up  of electricity

generated primarily from hydropower India is

a relatively water-scarcenation withonly  of

the world’s freshwater resources The Ministry

of Water Resources predicts that the national

demand for water in energy production will

increase -fold by  (Institute for Global

Environmental Strategies (IGES) ) This

increase poses a particular threat for future

energy supply considering  of new energy

capacity will be built in areas that already face

waterscarcityorwaterstress(WRI)

Options In REmap  renewables will reach

 of total generation In a near tripling of

energygenerationcomparedtothisoption

featuresalargescale-upofsolarwindbiomass

and nuclear generation In the Reference Case

renewables are estimated to accountfor  of

theelectricitygeneration

Impact on water consumption and withdrawal

In REmap  water consumption is reduced

Australia - Sum of Water Consumption

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

Water consumption (billion m

)

Water withdrawals (billion m

)

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(a)

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(b)

Solar PV

Oil

Biomass

Natural Gas

Coal

Nuclear

CSP

Geothermal

Figure A.4 Projected water (a) consumption and (b) withdrawals under Reference Case and REmap 2030

for Australia

Table A.4 Shares of cooling methods for Australian thermal power plants by generation type in 2030

GenerationType

WetCooling

AirDryCooling

Once-through ClosedLoop

Coal   

NaturalGas   

Oil   

Biomass   

Geothermal   

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS 109

ANNEX

by  compared to the Reference Case with

each option consuming  billion m



 and

 billion m



 respectively (see ﬁgure A) This

canbeattributedtothehighersharesofsolarPV

andwindwithminimalwaterfootprintsreplacing

coal Biomass thermal power has a similar water

footprint to coal and thus does not contribute

to reductions in water in the generation phase

ForwaterwithdrawalsREmapresultsin

billionmofwaterwithdrawnwhiletheReference

Caseresultsinbillionmofwaterwithdrawn

This  reduction in water withdrawals would

avoid  billion m of water use annually

Reductions ware due to a lower share of coal

andhighershareofwindandsolarPVwithhigh

withdrawalratesfromthemajorityofcoalplants

usingopen-loopcoolingtechnology

Assumptions This study assumes that all inland

thermal power plants use closed-loop cooling to

adhere to Ministry of Environment and Forests

regulations (IGES ) while coastal thermal

powerplantsuseonce-throughcooling(seetable

A)Theshareofgenerationsourcesusingonce-

through closed loop and dry cooling is based

on predicted trends (UNEP FI ) and visual

dataofcurrentandplannedpowerplantcapacity

(Enipedia  Maps of India ) Nuclear

energycapacityisassumedtobelocatedprimarily

onthecoastusingonce-throughcoolingsystems

Biomasscapacityisassumedtouseamixofonce-

through and closed loop cooling systems CSP

is assumed to use mostly closed-loop cooling

methods

India - Sum of Water Consumption

Water consumption (billion m

)

Water withdrawals (billion m

)

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(a)

100

120

140

160

Reference

case

REmap

2030

(b)

Solar PV

Oil

Biomass

Natural Gas

Coal

Nuclear

CSP

Geothermal

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Figure A.5 Projected water (a) consumption and (b) withdrawals under Reference Case and REmap 2030

for India

Table A.5 Shares of cooling methods for Indian thermal power plants by generation type in 2030

GenerationType

WetCooling

AirDryCooling

Once-through ClosedLoop

Coal   

Naturalgas   

Oil   

Nuclear   

Biomass   

CSP   

IRENA110

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Burkhardt JJ GA Heath and CS Turchi () “Life Cycle Assessment of a Parabolic Trough

ConcentratingSolarPowerPlantandtheImpactsofKeyDesignAlternatives”EnvironmentalScienceand

TechnologyVolpp-

Buzan B O Wæver and J De Wilde () Security a new framework for analysis Lynne Rienner

Publishers

Byers EA JW Hall and JM Amezaga () “Electricity Generation and Cooling Water

Use UK pathways to ” Global Enviornmental Change Vol  pp - Elsevier

wwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepiiS

California Legislative Information () “SB- Oil and Gas Production Water Use Reporting”

httpleginfolegislaturecagovfacesbillNavClientxhtml?billidSB

Cardoso stnd initial? () “Brazil Residential Demand Drives Market”

httpsolarthermalworldorgcontentbrazil-residential-demand-drives-market

CaseyA()“ReformingEnergySubsidiesCouldCurb India’sWaterStress”wwwworldwatchorg

reforming-energy-subsidies-could-curb-indias-water-stress-

CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) () “Global Water Report  - Moving

Beyond Business as Usual A Need for a Step Change in Water Risk Management”

wwwcdpnetCDPResultsCDP-Global-Water-Report-pdf

CEA(CentralElectricityAuthority)()“ElectricalEnergyGenerationduringtheMonthofFebruary’

andDuringthePeriodApril’-February’”wwwceanicinreportsmonthlyelecreviewfebpdf

CEA () “Growth  of Electricity Sector in India from -”

wwwceanicinreportsplanningdmlfgrowthpdf

CEEW (Council on Energy Environment and Water) () “Renewables Beyond Electricity”

httpceewinpdfCEEW-WWF-RERenewables-Beyond-Electricity-Decpdf

CEEW and NRDC (Natural ResourcesDefense Council) () “Concentrated Solar Power Heating up

India’sSolarThermalMarketundertheNationalSolarMission”Report(AddendumtoLayingtheFoundation

foraBrightFutureAssessingProgressunderPhaseIofIndia’sNationalSolarMission)Septemberpp-

httpceewinpdfCEEW-NRDC-ConcentratedSolarPowerSeppdf

IRENA112

Chatham House () “Global Food Insecurity and Implications for Saudi Arabia”

wwwchathamhouseorgsitesﬁleschathamhousepublicResearchEnergy Environment and

Developmentsummarypdf

ChaturvediVetal()“ClimateMitigationPolicyImplicationsforGlobalIrrigationWaterDemand”

MitigationandAdaptationStrategiesforGlobalChangeSpringerDOIs---

ChapagainAandDTickner()“WaterFootprintHelporHindrance?”WaterAlternativesVolNo

ppwwwwaterfootprintorgReportsChapagainandDave-Waterfootprintpdf

Cho R () “How China is Dealing With Its Water Crisis”

httpblogseicolumbiaeduhow-china-is-dealing-with-its-water-crisis

Clark C et al () “Water Use in the Development and Operation of Geothermal Power Plants”

ANLEVSR-ArgonneNationalLaboratoryArgonne

Climate Central () “Blackout Extreme weather climate change and power outages”

httpassetsclimatecentralorgpdfsPowerOutagespdf

CooleyHandRWilkinson()“ImplicationsofFutureWaterSupplyandSourcesforEnergyDemands”

WaterReuseFoundationAlexandriawwwpacinstorgwp-contentuploadsreportpdf

DaviesKetal()“AnIntegratedAssessmentofGlobalandRegionalWaterDemandsforElectricity

Generation to ” Advances in Water Resources httpclimatemodelingscienceenergygovsites

defaultﬁlespublicationsDavies-Kyle--s-S-AWR-Janpdf

DLR (German Aerospace Center) () “MENA Regional Water Outlook Desalination Using

Renewable Energy” Overview of DLR work within the MENA Regional Water Outlook study Muscat

httpelibdlrdeWorkshopOmanFinalDLRpdf

DOE(DepartmentofEnergy)()“USEnergySectorVulnerabilitiestoClimateChangeandExtremeWeather”

httpenergygovsitesprodﬁlesf-Energy-Sector-Vulnerabilities-Reportpdf

Ecker O and C Breisinger () “The Food Security System a new conceptual

framework” IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) Washington DC

wwwifpriorgpublicationfood-security-systemaccessedMarch

EIA (Energy Information Administration) () “Monthly Energy Review”

httpwwweiagovtotalenergydatamonthlyindexcfmelectricity

Enipedia(a)“GermanyPowerPlants”httpenipediatudelftnlwikiGermanyPowerplants

Enipedia(b)“AustraliaPowerPlants”httpenipediatudelftnlwikiAustraliaPowerplants

Enipedia(c)“IndiaPowerPlants”httpenipediatudelftnlwikiIndiaPowerplants

EnvironmentAmerica()“FrackingbytheNumbers”

wwwenvironmentamericaorgsitesenvironmentﬁlesreportsEAFrackingNumbersscrnpdf

EPA(EnvironmentalProtectionAgency)(nd)“CuttingEnergyUsageandCosts”

httpwaterepagovinfrastructuresustaincutenergycfm

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

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httpevergreenagriculturenet(draft)

EWEA(EuropeanWindEnergyAssociation)()“SavingWaterwithWindEnergy”

wwweweaorgﬁleadminﬁleslibrarypublicationsreportsSavingwaterwithwindenergypdf

FaridAandWLubega()“PoweringandWateringAgricultureApplicationofEnergy-WaterNexus

Planning”inGHTC(GlobalHumanitarianTechnologyConference)IEEESiliconValleyCApp–

FAO(FoodandAgricultureOrganisationoftheUnitedNations)(nda)“IntroductiontoAgriculturalWater

Pollution”ChapterfromControlofWaterPollutionfromAgriculture

wwwfaoorgdocrepwewehtm

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wwwfaoorgsave-foodresourceskeyﬁndingsen

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FAO (ndd) “Evergreen Agriculture The use of Fertilizer Tees in Maize Production in Malawi”

httptecafaoorgreadsthashsKbcHLKQfyFAdpuf

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wwwfaoorgforestry-bdfecdbcdeepdf

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wwwfaoorgﬁleadmintemplatessolawﬁlesthematicreportsTRpdf

FAO()“Globalagriculturetowards”HighLevelExpertForum-HowtoFeedtheWorldin”

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IRENA114

FAO (b) “Energy-Smart Food for People and Climate” FAO Rome

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FAO(c)“InvestmentinAgriculturalMechanizationinAfricaConclusionsandRecommendationsofa

RoundTableMeetingofExperts”wwwfaoorgdocrepieiepdf

FAO(a)“Energy-SmartFoodatFAOAnOverview”wwwfaoorgdocrepaneanepdf

FAO(b)“ImpactsofBioenergyonFoodSecurityGuidanceforAssessmentandResponseatNational

andProjectLevels”wwwfaoorgdocrepieiepdf

FAO (a) “Food Wastage Footprint impacts on natural resources” FAO Rome

wwwfaoorgdocrepieiepdf

FAO(b)“BiofuelsandthesustainabilitychallengeAglobalassessmentofsustainabilityissuestrends

andpoliciesforbiofuelsandrelatedfeedstocks”wwwfaoorgdocrepieiepdf

FAO(c)Climate-SmartAgricultureSourcebookwwwfaoorgdocrepieiepdf

FAO(a)“FAOSTATDatabase”FAORomefaostatfaoorgsitedefaultaspx

FAO (b)“Walkingthe NexusTalk Assessing the Water-Energy-Food Nexusin the Context of the

SustainableEnergyforAllInitiative”wwwfaoorga-iepdf

FAO (c) “FAO and the post- development agenda issue papers Theme Energy”

wwwfaoorgﬁleadminuseruploadpost-themesIssuePapersENthemes

decemberEnergy-pdf

FAO(d)“Evidence-basedassessmentofthesustainabilityandreplicabilityofintegratedfood-energy

systems”wwwfaoorgdocrepieiepdf

FaethPandBSovacool()“CapturingSynergiesBetweenWaterConservationandCarbonDioxide

EmissionsinthePowerSector”

wwwcnaorgresearchwater-conservation-carbon-dioxidesthashszLZRxUdpuf

FederalStatisticalOceofGermany()“Energy”

httpswwwdestatisdeENFactsFiguresEconomicSectorsEnergyEnergyhtml

Frontier Economics () “The Concept of ‘Virtual Water’ — a Critical Review”

wwwdepivicgovaudataassetspdfﬁleVirtual-Water-The-Concept-of-Virtual-Waterpdf

FthenakisVandHCKim()“LandUseandElectricityGenerationaLife-cycleAnalysis”Renewable

andSustainableEnergyReviewsVolpp-

Garthwaite J () “California Drought Dries Up Hydro But Power Stays On” National Geographic

httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnewsenergy-california-drought-dries-up-hydro-

but-power-stays-on

Gelting R and M Baloch () “The Food-Water Nexus Irrigation Water Quality

Risks to Food Safety and the Need for a Systems-Based Preventive Approach”

wwwcdcgovncehehsDocsJEHOctFoodWaterNexuspdf

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

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Goldernberg S () “Farming Practices and Climate Change at Root of Toledo Water Pollution”

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AcasestudyonIndia”httppubigesorjpmodulesenvirolibviewphp?docid

Koschikowski J () “Water Desalination When and Where Will it Make

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the Advancement of Science Fraunhofer ISE (Institute for Solar Energy Systems)

httpeceuropaeudgsjrcdownloadsjrcaaasenergywaterkoschikowskipdf

HadiM()“TraceofPollutionCausedbyCoalMining TrackedinKalimantan”httpentempoco

readnewsTrace-of-Pollution-Caused-by-Coal-Mining-Tracked-In-Kalimantan

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Harto C et al () “Geothermal Energy The Energy-Water Nexus”

httpwwwgeothermal-energyorgpdfIGAstandardSGWHartopdf

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wwwifpriorgsitesdefaultﬁlespublicationsfocuspdf

Herndon A () “Energy Makes Up Half of Desalination Plant Costs”

wwwbloombergcomnews--energy-makes-up-half-of-desalination-plant-costs-studyhtml

Hoekstra A () “The Relation between International Trade and Freshwater Scarcity”

wwwwaterfootprintorgReportsHoekstra--InternationalTrade-FreshwaterScarcitypdf

HoH()“UnderstandingtheNexus”SEI(StockholmEnvironmentInstitute)Stockholm

wwwwater-energy-foodorgdocumentsunderstandingthenexuspdf

HsuS()“China’sWaterPollutionMire”

httpthediplomatcomchinas-water-pollution-mire

IEA (International Energy Agency) () “Sustainable Production of Second-generation

Biofuels Potential and Perspectives in Major Economies and Developing Countries”

wwwieaorgpublicationsfreepublicationspublicationbiofuelsexecsummarypdf

IEA()“WorldEnergyOutlook”OECD(OrganisationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment)

Pariswwwworldenergyoutlookorgpublicationsweo-

IEA (a) “Outlook for Biofuels” Speech by Maria van der Hoeven Executive Director IEA    

World Biofuel Markets  Rotterdam httpswwwieaorgnewsroomandeventsspeeches

EDWorldBiofuelsMarketsROTTERDAMOutlookforBiofuelswithnotepagespdf

IEA (b)“Bio-energy in FamilyFarming A New Sustainable Perspectivefor the Rural Sectorin Brazil”

wwwiea-biogasnetcase-studieshtml?ﬁleﬁlesdaten-redaktiondownloadcase-studiesbrazilwebFinalpdf

IEA(a)WorldEnergyStatisticsandBalanceshttpdataieaorgieastorestatslistingasp

IEA(b)“HeatingwithoutGlobalWarming”wwwieaorgpublicationsfreepublicationspublication

FeaturedInsightHeatingWithoutGlobalWarmingFINALpdf

IEA(c)“EnergyBalancesofnon-OECDCountries”IEAOECDParisppISBN----

IEA(nd)“EnergySecurity(Deﬁnition)”wwwieaorgtopicsenergysecurity

IEASHC()“SolarHeatWorldwide”

wwwiea-shcorgdatasitespublicationsSolar-Heat-Worldwide-pdf

IEASHC()“SolarHeatWorldwide”

wwwiea-shcorgdatasitespublicationsSolar-Heat-Worldwide-pdf

IFC (International Finance Corporation) () “Scaling up Opportunities for Solar-Powered Irrigation

Pumps” World Water Week  httpprogrammeworldwaterweekorgsitesdefaultﬁlescolback

stockholmpresentationpdf

IGEP (Indo-German Energy Programme) () “Solar Water Pumping for Irrigation”

httpigen-reinﬁlesgizreportsolarwaterpumpingforirrigationinbiharpdf

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

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IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) () “The Water–Energy–Food Security

NexusTowardsaPracticalPlanningandDecision-supportFrameworkforLandscapeInvestmentandRisk

Management”IISDWinnipegwwwiisdorgpdfwefnexuspdf

Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) () “Solar Energy Based Dual Pump Piped

WaterSupplyScheme”httpmnregovinﬁle-managerUserFilessolar-energy-based-dual-pump-piped-

water-supply-schemepdf

InstituteforGlobalEnvironmentalStrategies()“LongTermElectricityScenarioandWaterUse–a

CaseStudyonIndia”httppubigesorjpmodulesenvirolibuploadattachPBEﬁnalpdf

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) () “Renewable Energy Sources

and Climate Change Mitigation Summary for Policy Makers and Technical Summary”

wwwipccchpdfspecial-reportssrrenSRRENFDSPMﬁnalpdf

IPCC()“TheSynthesisReportof the Fifth AssessmentReport of the Intergovernmental Panelon

ClimateChange”wwwipccchpdfassessment-reportarsyrSYRARLONGERREPORTpdf

IPCC () “Projected Climate Change and its Impacts” Climate Change  Synthesis Report

wwwipccchpublicationsanddataarsyrenspmshtml

IPCC()“TechnicalPaperonClimateChangeandWater”

httpipccchpdftechnical-papersclimate-change-water-enpdf

IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) (a) “REthinking Energy Towards a New Power

System”wwwirenaorgrethinkingRethinkingFullReportwebviewpdf

IRENA(b)“REmapARenewableEnergyRoadmap”

wwwirenaorgremapREmapReportJunepdf

IRENA (c) “IRENA - Cyprus Event on Renewable Energy Applications for Island Tourism”

wwwirenaorgDocumentDownloadseventsJuneAgendapdf

IRENA(d)“GlobalBioenergySupplyandDemandProjections”

wwwirenaorgremapIRENAREmapBiomasspaperpdf

IRENA () “Programmatic Discussion IV Emerging Opportunities in Renewable Energy Applications”

wwwirenaorgdocumentsuploadDocumentsthCouncilCCRPIVEmergingopportunitiespdf

IRENA(a)“InternationalO-gridRenewableEnergyConferenceKeyFindingsandRecommendations”

wwwirenaorgDocumentDownloadsPublicationsIORECKeyFindingsandRecommendationspdf

IRENA(b)“RenewableEnergyPolicyinCitiesSelectedCaseStudies”

wwwirenaorgmenuindexaspx?mnuSubcat&PriMenuID&CatID&SubcatID

IRENA(c)“RenewableEnergyJobsandAccess”

wwwirenaorgdocumentdownloadspublicationsrenewableenergyjobsandaccesspdf

IRENA and IEA-ETSAP (-Energy Technology Systems Analysis Program) () “Production of Liquid

BiofuelsTechnologyBrief”wwwirenaorgDocumentDownloadsPublicationsIRENA-ETSAPTech

BriefPProductionofLiquidBiofuelspdf

IRENA118

IRENAandIEA-ETSAP()“WaterDesalinationUsingRenewableEnergyTechnologyBrief”wwwirena

orgDocumentDownloadsPublicationsIRENA-ETSAPTechBriefIWater-Desalinationpdf

ISIS (Institute of Science in Society) () “Japanese Farmers Producing Crops and Solar Energy

Simultaneously”wwwi-sisorgukJapaneseFarmersProducingCropsandSolarEnergyphp

IWD(IdyllwildWaterDistrict)(nd)“SolarProject”wwwidyllwildwaternetfacilitiessolar-project

IWMI (International Water Management Institute) () “Wastewater Use in Agriculture

Review of Impacts and Methodological Issues in Valuing Impacts” Working Paper 

wwwiwmicgiarorgPublicationsWorkingPapersworkingWORpdf

KACST () “The nd Saudi International Water Technology Conference

” The nd International Conference and Workshops on Water Technologies

httpkacstwatertechorgEnimagesBrochureEN-Brochurepdf

Kaye L () “Can Solar Thermal Desalination Make Sustainable Agriculture Possible?”

httpcleantechnicacomcan-solar-thermal-desalination-make-sustainable-agriculture-possible

Kiger P () “Fukushima’s Radioactive Water Leak What You Should Know”

httpnewsnationalgeographiccomnewsenergy-fukushima-radioactive-water-leak

KingMandJGulledge()“ClimateChangeandEnergySecurityanAnalysisofPolicyResearch”

Climatic Change Vol  No  pp - wwwresearchgatenetpublicationClimate

changeandenergysecurityananalysisofpolicyresearchﬁleaaapdf

KoellnerTandRScholz()“AssessmentofLandUseImpactsontheNaturalEnvironmentPart

GenericCharacterizationFactorsforLocalSpeciesDiversityinCentralEurope”TheInternationalJournal

ofLifeCycleAssessmentVolpp-

Kramer A () “Russia Crippled by Drought Bans Grain Exports”

wwwnytimescomworldeuroperussiahtml?r

Kovalyova S () “UN food body FAO warns against food export curbs” 

httpinreuterscomarticleidINIndia-

Lane J () “Biofuels Mandates Around the World ” Biofuels Digest

wwwbiofuelsdigestcombdigestbiofuels-mandates-around-the-world-

Lavelle M and T Grose () “Water Demand for Energy to Double by ” httpnews

nationalgeographiccomnewsenergy-water-demand-for-energy-to-double-by- 

LeonardoEnergy()“SolarWaterHeatingintheWorldStrongDiusionDuetotheLargeImpactofIncentives”

wwwleonardo-energyorgsolar-water-heating-world-strong-diusion-due-large-impact-incentives

LiqreinaAandLQoaider()“DryCoolingofConcentratingSolarPower(CSP)PlantsanEconomic

Competitive Option for the Desert Regions of the MENA region” Solar Energy Vol  pp -

wwwsciencedirectcomsciencearticlepiiSX

LoulouRetal()“DocumentationfortheTIMESModelPartIGeneralDescriptionoftheTIMES

Paradigm”ETSAPwwwiea-etsaporgwebDocsTIMESDoc-Intropdf

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

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MohtarRandBDaher()“Water-Energy-FoodNexusABasisforStrategicResourcePlanning”

Presented at a Workshop on Moving Ahead to Implement the Nexus approach Lessons Learnt

and Discussion of Next Steps Regarding Integrated Assessment of Water-Energy-Food Needs in a

Climate Change Context FAO Rome QEERI (Qatar Energy and Environment Research Institute)

wwwfaoorgenergy-dbebbffbafdpdf

Mohtar R and B Daher () “Water Energy and Food The Ultimate Nexus”

in Encyclopedia of Agricultural Food and Biological Engineering Second Edition

httpdaqncnfcbcloudfrontnetappmedia

MoFA IRENA and REN () “MENA Renewables Status Report ”

httpwwwrennetPortalsdocumentsactivitiesRegionalReportsMENAlowrespdf

IRENA120

MSPA (Mauritius Sugar Producers’ Association) (nd) “BagasseCoal Power Plants”

wwwmspamuindexphp?rubrique

NL (Netherlands) Agency () “Combining Bioenergy Production and Food Security” www

globalbioenergyorguploadsmediaNLAgency-Combiningbiomassproductionandfood

securitypdf

NREL(NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory)(a)“Land-useRequirementsforSolarPowerPlants

intheUnitedStates”wwwnrelgovdocsfyostipdf

NREL () “A Review of Operational Water Consumption and Withdrawal Factors for Electricity

GeneratingTechnologies”wwwnrelgovdocsfyostipdf

NREL () “Land-use Requirements of Modern Wind Power Plants in the United States”

wwwnrelgovdocsfyostipdf

NREL()“WindEnergybyIncreasingWindEnergy’sContributiontoUSElectricitySupply”

wwwnrelgovdocsfyostipdf

OECD-FAO () “OECD FAO Agricultural Outlook -” OECD Paris

wwwoecdorgsiteoecd-faoagriculturaloutlookhighlights--ENpdf

Ogburn S and ClimateWire () “Indian Monsoons Are Becoming More Extreme”

wwwscientiﬁcamericancomarticleindian-monsoons-are-becoming-more-extreme

PlappalyAandVJLienhard()“EnergyRequirementsforWaterProductionTreatmentEndUse

ReclamationandDisposal”RenewableandSustainableEnergyReviewsVolNopp-

httpdxdoiorgjrser

Pollit Het al() “A scopingStudy onthe Macroeconomic Viewof Sustainability” Finalreport for the

EuropeanCommissionDGEnviornmentSERI(SustainableEuropeResearchInstitute)CambridgeEconometrics

httpseriatwp-contentuploadsSERICE-Macroeconomic-view-of-sustainabilitypdf

Practical Action () “Poor People’s Energy Outlook ”

httpcdnpracticalactionorgppfead-c-a-bd-baefbbpdf

ProDes () “Roadmap for the Development of Desalinaiton Powered by Renewable Energy”

wwwprodes-projectorgﬁleadminFilesProDesRoadmaponlineversionpdf

REEEP (Renewable Energy and Energy Eciency Partnership) () “Making the Case

How Agrifood Firms are Building New Business Cases in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus”

wwwreeeporgsitesdefaultﬁlesREEEPMakingTheCasepdf

REEEP()“SolarWaterHeatingGuideforBrazil“wwwreeeporgnewssolar-water-heating-guide-brazil

Regions()“PavingthewayforSustainableEnergyinEurope”ENNEREGGoodPracticein

RenewableEnergywwwregionseucmsassetsUploadsResources-GP-CRES-RE-Milospdf

REN(RenewableEnergyPolicyNetworkfor

Century)()“RenewablesGlobalStatusReport”

wwwrennetPortalsdocumentsResourcesGSRGSRfullreportlowrespdf

REN()“RenewablesGlobalStatusReport”

wwwrennetPortalsdocumentsResourcesGSRGSRlowrespdf

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

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RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE WATER, ENERGY & FOOD NEXUS

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