The Mortgaged Future: Energy Strategy and Public Policy

In this article, the first of a series of viewpoint pieces in Natural Resources Forum , the president of a major transnational energy corporation analyses the pivotal role of the United States in determining world energy trends and argues that development of nuclear energy and coal will be necessary to meet demand as world oil supplies dwindle in the 1990's. In the United States, the lack of a clear-cut government policy coupled with opposition to nuclear energy hampers the development of alternate energy sources for the future. This situation is mirrored in other parts of the world. Unless assessments of the long lead times for solar and nuclear fusion as sources of energy are accepted soon as realistic and unless efforts to develop nuclear and coal are accelerated, the United States may face grave energy shortfalls in the medium term.     

Sustainable use of stormwater for irrigation case study: Manly Golf Course

Sustainability has become an increasingly used term, but what does it mean in terms of practice. This research will look at the harvesting of captured stormwater for the irrigation of urban playing fields and what the implications are for catchment hydrology, local community, and local council. This research aims to identify, understand and determine the catchment conditions that may hinder the stormwater quality and quantity for capture and reuse, as well as determining whether the stormwater harvesting will be sustainable. Research methods for this project will include systemic analysis in order to further investigate the assumptions being made in the study. Manly Golf Club has relied on groundwater extraction supplemented by potable supplies for irrigation, however potable supplies are no longer available. It has been proposed to provide irrigation supplies from stormwater via onsite storage and groundwater recharge. Monitored stormwater entering the Golf Course from the adjacent Cemetery Creek sub-catchment for pollutants, have indicated that it may be suitable for irrigation with treatment and may reduce problems generated by overuse of groundwater. The proposal will provide environmental benefit through reduced pollution loads being discharged directly to receiving waters and cessation of use of potable supplies by the Club. Social and economic benefits are expected to be gained and will be monitored as part of an ongoing research program.     

ENERGY AND WATER CONSERVATION STRATEGIES IN IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE1

ABSTRACT: Growers in California used several energy and water conservation strategies in response to the drought conditions of 1976 and 1977. The strategies included an increased use of ground water, in creased irrigation efficiencies, and shifts in cropping patterns. Drought-related losses to irrigated agriculture were minimized as a result of these modifications. Some future problems may have been created, however, by obtaining the needed water supplies for 1976–77. These problems include the effects of extensive water pumping on ground water reservoirs and ground subsidence. In addition, reduced water application by less frequent irrigation and changes in irrigation methods may affect the total salt balance for future years. Several conservation strategies that have some potential application in California were identified as: maintaining and augmenting surface water supply, increasing power use efficiencies, and improving irrigation efficiencies. Electricity savings associated with water conservation have been estimated as high as 25 percent. Specific near term actions suggested for facilitating conservation included: an expanded irrigation management system, efficient water deliveries, and a continued effort on the part of the individual growers to use resources during periods of normal rainfall as they were used under drought conditions.     

Fuelwood Prices in India: Policy Implications

The price of fuelwood has been increasing at a rate higher than that of the consumer price index in most of the major urban centres of India. Today, in terms of cost per unit of energy delivered, fuelwood is more than twice as expensive as kerosene for cooking. This has immense public policy implications. A number of complementary policy interventions are needed so that forests can be saved and the stability of energy supplies can be achieved in developing countries.     

US energy policy in historical perspective

Energy ‘policy’ is not a recent invention. What is new is that instead of a variety of policies rooted for the most part in notions other than adequacy of reasonably priced and readily available energy supplies, the past fifteen years or so have witnessed the emergence of a set of policies that are more pointedly directed at energy targets as such. These include, above all, such cross cutting issues as efficiency in use, security against supply disruptions, incentives to oil and gas producers, opportunities for the development of alternative energy sources and concern for the equitable sharing of costs associated with any of these policies. If there is one overriding issue that permeates the policy fabric it is the delineation of the governmental role versus market forces. Debate and controversy on that topic is bound to continue.     

WATER CONSTRAINTS ON EMERGING ENERGY PRODUCTION1

ABSTRACT: A comprehensive nationwide recognizance-level assessment of water needs for energy development over the 1985 to 2000 time frame and options for overcoming any actual or potential water supply problems are summarized. Water requirements for energy production and other uses are totaled for each geographic region of the United States and compared with available stream flow to identify regions with potentially inadequate water supplies to meet expanding energy needs. Water quality impacts and water-related institutional factors affecting energy development are also considered. It is concluded that, if proper planning measures are not initiated, water demands for energy production will not be satisfied by the year 2000, particularly in those areas with known fossil energy resources. No unmanageable water quality problems are foreseen, and water-related institutional factors will primarily delay rather than exclud energy development.     

A Comparison of Decentralized Minigrids and Dispersed Diesels for Irrigation Pumping in Sahelian Africa

A key ingredient in the expansion of agricultural output in many developing countries is the availability of reliable and cost-effective energy supplies for irrigation. Such supplies are also fundamental to any strategy to stimulate rural economic development. This paper compares the costs of water pumping through the use of commonly-used, small diesel-driven pumpsets versus a decentralized generator connected to a small electrified grid. An example representative of irrigated cropping systems found in the Senegal River Basin is used to compare costs. The results show that pumping costs from a decentralized power supply and minigrid are roughly comparable with those of direct-drive diesel pumpsets. Further, excess capacity would be available to provide power for small industries and other rural needs. In many sparsely populated rural locations where low capacity factors make central grid extension uneconomic, a minigrid with a guaranteed load of irrigation pumping can be an attractive alternative for providing power for rural development.     

Alternative energy: Environmental and economic factors associated with renewable energy and creating new integrated energy management systems

At best, the future of alternative and renewable energy remains uncertain. Our dependency on fossil fuels is already depleting world supplies of coal and petroleum while increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Most assuredly, the ability of alternative energy, described in this article as biomass, hydrogen, wind, solar, and geothermal power, to compete and even integrate with fossil fuels will depend on several important variables: First, developing, as well as developed, countries must be willing to direct long-term public and private funding towards innovative energy technologies by increasing research and promoting public education. Secondly, the “bottom line” economics associated with alternative energy technology must clearly show a positive cost/benefit ratio. Revenues and not deficits are paramount to the sustainability of alternative energy. Lastly, many experts argue for the environmental benefits of alternative energy by way of carbon reductions. The 1997 Kyoto Global Warming Treaty requires the United States in particular to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning by 7 percent below 1990 levels. While many experts argue that reactions to global warming and the alternative energy benefits anticipated because of them are fiscally irresponsible and not worth the billions of tax dollars intended, we can be assured that a business-as-usual attitude will continue without increased government and public support.© 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Renewable energy: Biomass power and biofuels as alternative sustainable energy sources

This article describes biomass fuels as renewable and sustainable energy resources in Minnesota as well as across the United States. This country has long benefited from surplus supplies of diverse energy resources, while our dependency on foreign petroleum supplies and domestic coal reserves has only recently prompted Congress to recognize the importance of renewable and alternative fuels such as biomass energy. Our further utilization of biomass power and biofuels can be an important step in altering our dependency on both coal and petroleum while simultaneously reducing carbon dioxide emissions. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

WATER SUPPLY IMPACTS OF NUCLEAR FALL1

ABSTRACT: “Nuclear winter,” more properly called “nuclear fall,” could be caused by injection of large amounts of dust into the atmosphere. Besides causing a decrease in temperature, it could be accompanied by “nuclear drought,” a catastrophic decrease in precipitation. Dry land agriculture would then be impossible, and municipal, industrial, and irrigation water supplies would be diminished. It has been argued that nuclear winter/fall poses a much greater threat to human survival than do fall out or the direct impacts of a conflict. However, this does not appear to be true, at least for the U.S. Even under the unprecedented drought that could result from nuclear fall, water supplies would be available for many essential activities. For the most part, ground water supplies would be relatively invulnerable to nuclear drought, and adequate surface supplies would be available for potable uses. This assumes that conveyance facilities and power supplies survive a conflict largely intact or can be repaired.     

Relative Value of Water for Hydropower and Municipal Supply in Southeastern Reservoirs

Population growth in the Southeast has driven withdrawals for municipal water beyond the limits of local supplies. With few options left for development of virgin sources, a number of urban areas are looking toward demand management and additional supplies by reallocating storage in reservoirs that were built primarily or in part for hydropower. Hydropower has become a lesser part of the mix of energy sources, and the question arises as to value of water for that purpose relative to its value for municipal use. Three cases are used to examine the issue. Effects of withdrawal for municipal water supply on output of electric energy are estimated. Benefits of foregone energy are evaluated using the least cost alternative for replacement, and benefits for municipal water are estimated using costs for development of new sources. Benefits for use as municipal water are found to be considerably higher than benefits for hydroelectric energy at existing prices, even higher than the least cost alternative for replacement. Given the spatial distribution of the cases, that finding would appear to hold in general across the region.     

Is Nuclear Power Environmentally Sustainable?

The sustainability of nuclear energy is discussed in terms of its environmental impacts and its utilization of resources. The reactors in the present generation of fission reactors extract only a small percentage of the energy available from uranium. A solution to the long-term management of highly radioactive used reactor fuel is also a key factor in fission's sustainability. Recycling used fuel for enhanced energy production in advanced reactors and the mitigation of the long-term management of the remaining wastes, ideally with their ultimate destruction by nuclear transmutation, are technologies that need to be developed in order to ensure the long term sustainability of nuclear fission. In contrast, nuclear fusion, while not yet available for power production, promises to be inherently sustainable.     

World supply of non fuel minerals: The geological constraints

The feasibility of trebling production of essential non fuel minerals by AD 2000 is considered in relation to a rise in world population to 6 billion (10⁹). Adequate supplies of common bulk ‘minerals’ like sand and gravel, brick clays and saline deposits, are assured, but mining will place additional strains on local environments. Ores of the metals that can be regarded as available in sufficient quantities include iron, aluminium, chromium, titanium, copper and nickel, and possibly also lead and zinc. In spite of the geological constraints imposed by complexity of geometry and genesis, reasoned resource estimates are possible for these, but they may not be feasible for rarer necessary minerals, such as those of the precious metals, mercury, niobium and flourine. The extraction of even the commonest of the non fuel minerals is conditioned by the availability of abundant energy at economic prices – this should be regarded as the critical factor.     

MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SMALL STREAMS: SIGNIFICANCE AND FUNCTION1

ABSTRACT: Throughout the United States, land managers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of small streams for a wide range of resource benefits. Where channel morphology is modified or structural features are added, stream dynamics and energy dissipation need to be considered. Unit stream power, defined here as the time-rate loss of potential energy per unit mass of water, can be reduced by adding stream obstructions, increasing channel sinuosity, or increasing flow resistance with large roughness elements such as woody root systems, logs, boulders, or bedrock. Notable morphological features of small streams are pools, riffles, bed material, and channel banks. Pools, which vary in size, shape, and causative factors, are important rearing habitat for fish. Riffles represent storage locations for bed material and are generally utilized for spawning. The particle sizes and distributions of bed material influence channel characteristics, bedload transport, food supplies for fish, spawning conditions, cover, and rearing habitat. Riparian vegetation helps stabilize channel banks and contributes in various ways to fish productivity. Understanding each stream feature individually and in relation to all others is essential for proper stream management. Although engineered structures for modifying habitat may alter stream characteristics, channel morphology must ultimately be matched to the hydraulic, geologic, and (especially) vegetative constraints of a particular location.     

A NEW CHALLENGE FOR WESTERN WATER SUPPLIES1

ABSTRACT: In many of the limited water resource areas of the western United States most water supplies have been put to beneficial uses. Energy, a fast expanding high-priority water use, is making challenging demands for these limited supplies. Can water supplies be stretched, supplemented, or redirected so that present uses can be maintained and energy water needs satisfied? The Bureau of Reclamation is investigating innovative methods of water management, reregulation, and use to meet these demands. Related programs under study include potentials for: development of additional hydroelectric power, installation of low-head turbines in western water courses, utilization of pumped storage and underground storage, use of geo-thermal heat, extension of water supplies through more efficient irrigation systems and practices, and weather modification.     

The future for coal in Western Europe

The past twenty years have demonstrated a striking flexibility in fuel supplies. Does this mean, now the dangers of import dependence have been demonstrated, that it will in the future be equally easy to move to a different composition of energy supplies with a larger role for indigenous coal? An examination of the factors determining interfuel substitution over the past twenty years suggests that present circumstances do not appear entirely favourable to coal revival.     

Long-term adequacy of metal resources

Although the earth's crust contains vast quantities of metals, extraction technologies and associated costs are inextricably bound to three fundamental geological factors — the amount of metal available in the earth's crust in each range of grades, the mineralogical form and chemical state of the metal, and the spatial distribution of the metal. The energy required to recover a given amount of metal increases substantially as grade declines. Most metal is produced from sulphide or oxide minerals, whereas most metal in the crust may be locked in the structures of the more refractory silicates. Recovery from silicate minerals could require orders of magnitude more energy than that used at present as also could exploitation of small, widely scattered or thin, deeply buried deposits. Although specific information on the fundamental factors is not available, each factor must in turn tend to further restrict exploitation. Independence of average grade and tonnage for many deposit types further reduces the availability of rock as a source of metal. In the long term, effects of these factors will be large increases in price for many metals.     

Increasing urban water self-sufficiency: new era, new challenges

Urban water supplies are traditionally based on limited freshwater resources located outside the cities. However, a range of concepts and techniques to exploit alternative water resources has gained ground as water demands begin to exceed the freshwater available to cities. Based on 113 cases and 15 in-depth case studies, solutions used to increase water self-sufficiency in urban areas are analyzed. The main drivers for increased self-sufficiency were identified to be direct and indirect lack of water, constrained infrastructure, high quality water demands and commercial and institutional pressures. Case studies demonstrate increases in self-sufficiency ratios to as much as 80% with contributions from recycled water, seawater desalination and rainwater collection. The introduction of alternative water resources raises several challenges: energy requirements vary by more than a factor of ten amongst the alternative techniques, wastewater reclamation can lead to the appearance of trace contaminants in drinking water, and changes to the drinking water system can meet tough resistance from the public. Public water-supply managers aim to achieve a high level of reliability and stability. We conclude that despite the challenges, self-sufficiency concepts in combination with conventional water resources are already helping to reach this goal.     

WATER SUPPLY OPTIONS IN A NEW MEXICO WATER PLANNING REGION1

ABSTRACT: The population in the Jemez y Sangre Water Planning Region of New Mexico has reached the point at which the demand for water exceeds available supplies, particularly when precipitation is below average, as has frequently occurred in recent years. The desire to develop a sustainable water supply that relies on renewable supplies in wet years and preserves the water in storage for times of drought motivated a diverse set of stakeholders in the region to participate in regional water planning. The planning effort culminated in development of the Jemez y Sangre Regional Water Plan, which was adopted by municipal and county governments in the region. The plan assesses and compares water supply and demand in the region and recommends alternatives for protecting and restoring the existing water supply and addressing the pending gap between supply and demand anticipated by the year 2060. To convey to decision makers the alternatives available to solve the future water shortage, option charts were developed to portray the amount of water that could be obtained or conserved through their implementation. The option charts show that the projected gap between supply and demand cannot be met through one alternative only, but will require a combination of alternatives.     

Available Water Supplies in Beijing,China, Under Single‐ and Multi‐Year Drought

Since its implementation in 2015, the Middle Route of the South‐to‐North Water Diversion Project (MR‐SNWDP) has transferred an average of 45 billion cubic meters of surface water per year from the Yangtze River in southern China to the Yellow River and Hai River Basin in northern China, but how that supply is able to cope with droughts under different scenarios has not been explored. In this study, using the water demand for 2020 as the guaranteed water target, a Water Evaluation and Planning system was used to simulate available water supplies in Beijing under different drought scenarios. In the case of a single‐year drought, without the MR‐SNWDP, Beijing’s water shortage ratio was 16.7%; with the MR‐SNWDP, this ratio reduced to 7.3%. In the case of a multi‐year drought, without the MR‐SNWDP, Beijing’s water shortage ratio was 25.3%; with the MR‐SNWDP, this ratio reduced to 7.4% and domestic water supply was improved. Our research suggests that to prepare for multi‐year drought in the Beijing area, the SNWDP supports increased supplies to the region that would mitigate drought effects. This study is, however, mostly focused on water supply provision to Beijing and does not comprehensively evaluate other potential impacts. Multiple additional avenues could be pursued that include replenishing groundwater, increasing reservoir storage, and water conservation methods. Further research is needed to explore the relative costs and benefits of these approaches.