Risk,vulnerability, and pragmatic inevitability: the conflict–disaster nexus and urban governance in Johannesburg,South Africa

This paper spotlights post-disaster relief provision in Johannesburg, South Africa, following the floods of 2016 in a bid to explore how local government and non-governmental actors in the country conceive of compounding vulnerability and conflict within urban disaster governance. It reveals the diverse strategies employed to navigate violent conflict during the cyclical occurrence of disaster and reconstruction that the predominantly migrant population experiences in the Setswetla informal settlement, adjacent to the Alexandra township in northern Johannesburg. Rendered visible in moments of disaster and recovery are the spatial politics and multidimensional nature of conflict. These phenomena unfold across various levels of urban governance and in the affected community and effectively construct a disaster citizenship that makes risk reduction and community cohesion impossible in the eyes of disaster managers. This research, based on a set of expert interviews, integrates conflict and disaster studies to shed light on how the conflict–disaster interface materialises, and is operationalised, in an urban setting.     

Projected Freshwater Withdrawals Under Efficiency Scenarios for Electricity Generation and Municipal Use in the United States for 20301

Chen, Limin, Sujoy B. Roy, and Robert A. Goldstein, 2012. Projected Freshwater Withdrawals Under Efficiency Scenarios for Electricity Generation and Municipal Use in the United States for 2030. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1‐16. DOI: 10.1111/jawr.12013 Abstract: Water withdrawals in the United States (U.S.) have been relatively uniform over the past two decades on a nationally aggregated basis, although on a more highly resolved geographical basis, increases have occurred, largely associated with growth in population and the cooling needs for new electricity generation. Using recent county‐level water use data, we develop projections for five different scenarios, bracketing a range of future conditions, and representing different levels of efficiency in the municipal and electricity generation sectors, where the municipal sector includes public and self‐supplied domestic withdrawals. Starting with the 2005 estimate of 347 billion gallons per day (bgd) of freshwater withdrawal in the continental U.S., our analysis shows that under a business‐as‐usual scenario of growth, there will be a need for additional water over current levels: 11 bgd in the municipal sector, with a smaller requirement for new electricity generation (1 bgd). However, we also estimate that withdrawals could be reduced significantly over current levels, through increased water use efficiencies in the electric power and municipal sectors. The study shows that if water withdrawals are to be held at their current levels for the thermoelectric and municipal sectors individually at a county level over the next 25 years, large improvements in efficiency will be needed in many parts of the Southeast and Southwest.     

Plenty of water,not enough strategy: How inadequate accessibility,poor governance and a volatile government can tip the balance against ensuring water security: The case of Nepal

Water security is arguably the single most important factor regarding the future sustainability of our planet. Without water we have no life, and with depleting freshwater resources conflict can easily ensue. The intersection between hydrology and politics requires a delicate balancing from decision-makers to ensure policy is well-informed and science is well communicated. In this paper, we discuss water issues currently faced by Nepal, a nation where freshwater resources are abundant yet political pressures are threatening future water security. We argue that despite adequate water supplies a nation may still experience severe water insecurity, particularly if effective governance and equitable access are not prioritised. We explore potential policy options necessary to achieve a holistic framework for water resources management, which we suggest, need to consider water resource reliability, accessibility and governance as fundamental pillars for ensuring water security.     

Regulating the water-energy-food nexus: Interdependencies,transaction costs and procedural justice

There have been calls for an overhaul of regulatory and governance frameworks to incorporate the implications of the water-energy-food nexus. We map one small component of the regulatory space of the nexus and highlight its immense complexity. We draw on insights from the economics and socio-legal literatures to show that a decentralised approach to regulation based upon procedural justice can enable the trade-offs of the nexus to be considered and addressed. We use a nexus case study of micro hydro-electricity generation in Dartmoor National Park in England to show that when we take into account interactions between state and non-state regulation, the economic concepts of interdependencies and transaction costs, and a recognition that regulation of the nexus is a process involving decisions of procedural justice, some existing regulatory frameworks are already well-equipped to deal with the implications of nexus analysis.     

水—能源—粮食纽带关系若干问题解析

水、能源、粮食均为战略性、基础性资源,三者之间相互关联,彼此制约,深刻影响着人类的生产、生活和生态环境。通过梳理水—能源—粮食纽带关系领域的研究内容、研究方法、研究尺度等,进一步明确了变化环境影响下水—能源—粮食纽带关系概念框架及其风险关系的传递与表达,指出当前对水—能源—粮食纽带关系理解尚未统一,广泛采用的有“联系论”和“方法论”。现有研究对水—能源—粮食纽带关系进行了现状评估,资源间相互消耗关系的量化与不同情景下的仿真模拟。研究中存在数据缺失、不一致,评估因素单一,缺少动态反馈机制,难以真正应用到政策调控中等问题。因此,数据整合、模型集成、风险评估与动态调节、提高韧性、城市尺度研究和智慧管理,均是水—能源—粮食纽带关系发展关注的重点领域。     

考虑“水—土—能—碳”关联的我国工农业碳排放效率及减排潜力研究

考虑“水—土—能—碳”关联,本文将水土资源要素纳入投入变量,构建了我国工农业碳排放效率投入产出测度指标,运用考虑非期望产出的SBM-undesirable模型计算我国29个省份2004—2017年农业、工业部门碳排放效率,利用乘法逆转法计算碳减排潜力并对影响碳排放的投入产出因素进行分析。结果表明：研究期内我国整体农业、工业碳排放效率均呈波动下降趋势,各年的农业碳排放效率均高于工业碳排放效率,江苏、山东等7省份农业碳排放效率以及北京、天津工业碳排放效率最优;各省份农业、工业减排潜力和规模具有显著差异,山西、甘肃的农业、工业碳减排均具有较大潜力;我国绝大多数省份均存在农业、工业的资源能源投入冗余和非期望产出冗余,土地资源投入过剩是影响农业碳排放效率的最重要因素,水资源投入过剩是影响工业碳排放效率的最重要因素。碳排放效率较低省份应积极开展技术创新,发展低碳技术,提高水土资源和能源利用效率,减少碳排放。     

中国省际水-能源-粮食耦合协调度及影响因素研究

我国水资源、能源、粮食消费量均居世界首位,如何保证水资源-能源-粮食之间的协调发展成为我国实现可持续发展急需解决的关键问题。基于耦合协调度模型测算2003—2015年我国省际水-能源-粮食耦合协调度,并结合ESDA方法和空间计量模型探讨水-能源-粮食耦合协调度的空间相关性及影响因素。结果表明:①我国省际水-能源-粮食子系统及综合评价指数水平较低,呈现上升态势,其空间分布格局与我国水-能源-粮食资源禀赋分布格局相一致。②我国省际水-能源-粮食耦合度已处于高水平,但我国省际水-能源-粮食耦合协调度水平较低,呈现出稳定上升态势,存在较大的提升空间;我国省际水-能源-粮食耦合协调度具有显著的空间分异规律,各地区空间差异性明显,呈现出东北>中部>东部>西部的空间分布格局。③我国省际水-能源-粮食耦合协调度呈正向空间自相关性,集聚状态明显,但分布格局不够稳定,易发生变动。④我国省际水-能源-粮食耦合协调度的影响因素主要有经济发展水平、经济集聚、技术进步、教育、人口和农林支出。因此,国家应针对水、能源、粮食的协调发展进行顶层设计,统筹考虑水、能源、粮食与产业布局及行业外部影响的关系。通过技术进步来提升水、能源、粮食的利用效率,保证协调发展的质量。各省市则应结合自身实际情况,制定有针对性的措施,弥补短板,促进其水-能源-粮食的协调发展。     

Designing new institutions for implementing integrated disaster risk management: key elements and future directions

The goal of integrated disaster risk management is to promote an overall improvement in the quality of safety and security in a region, city or community at disaster risk. This paper presents the case for a thorough overhaul of the institutional component of integrated disaster risk management. A review of disaster management institutions in the United States indicates significant weaknesses in their ability to contribute effectively to the implementation of integrated disaster risk management. Our analysis and findings identify eight key elements for the design of dynamic new disaster management institutions. Six specific approaches are suggested for incorporating the identified key elements in building new institutions that would have significant potential for enhancing the effective implementation of integrated disaster risk management. We have developed a possible blueprint for effective design and construction of efficient, sustainable and functional disaster management institutions.     

Quantifying the Impact of Renewable Energy Futures on Cooling Water Use

This article presents an empirically based model, WiCTS ( Wi thdrawal and C onsumption for T hermoelectric S ystems), to estimate regional water withdrawals and consumption implied by any electricity generation portfolio. WiTCS uses water use rates, developed at the substate level, to predict water use by scaling the rates with predicted energy generation. The capability of WiCTS is demonstrated by assessing the impact of renewable electricity generation scenarios on water use in the United States (U.S.) through 2050. The energy generation scenarios are taken from the Renewable Energy Futures Study performed by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. Results indicate reductions in water use are achieved under these renewable energy scenarios. The analysis further explores the impact of two modifications to the modeling framework. The first modification presumes geothermal and concentrated solar power generation technologies employ water‐intensive cooling systems vs. cooling technology that requires no water. The second modification presumes all water‐intensive cooling technologies use closed cycle cooling (as opposed to once‐through cooling) technologies by 2050. Results based on one of the renewable generation scenarios indicate water use increases by over 20% under the first modification, and water consumption increases by approximately 40% while water withdrawals decrease by over 85% under the second modification.     

Water–energy–greenhouse gas nexus of urban water systems: Review of concepts,state-of-art and methods

Water supply and wastewater services incur a large amount of energy and GHG emissions. It is therefore imperative to understand the link between water and energy as their availability and demand are closely interrelated. This paper presents a literature review and assessment of knowledge gaps related to water–energy–greenhouse gas (GHG) nexus studies in an urban context from an ‘energy for water’ perspective. The review comprehensively surveyed various studies undertaken in various regions of the world and focusing on individual or multiple subsystems of an urban water system. The paper also analyses the energy intensity of decentralized water systems and various water end-uses together with the major tools and models used. A major gap identified from this review is the lack of a holistic and systematic framework to capture the dynamics of multiple water–energy–GHG linkages in an integrated urban water system where centralized and decentralized water systems are combined to meet increased water demand. Other knowledge gaps identified are the absence of studies, peer reviewed papers, data and information on water–energy interactions while adopting a ‘fit for purpose water strategy’ for water supply. Finally, based on this review, we propose a water–energy nexus framework to investigate ‘fit-for-purpose’ water strategy.