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Did you know...? Water Facts. See Global Water Crisis in Nature Magazine online. Special feature.
The February 2001 issue of Scientific American offers a series "Tapped Out?" on our waning water supply and how to deal with it. Features articles, statistics, and subtopics.
Water and oil don't mix. But in our times, it takes oil to make water. The oil crisis and the water crisis are co-dependent.
Did you know? Dehydration due to diarrhea, usually brought on by drinking unsafe water, is the leading cause of death for children under age five. WaterPartners International is a non-profit organization that addresses the water
supply and sanitation needs in developing countries.
LET THEM DRINK PEPSI The Globe and Mail, August 5, 2000
John Briscoe, senior water adviser at the World Bank, is blunt when he describes the looming water shortage: Unless people learn to use water more efficiently, there won't be enough fresh water to sustain the Earth's population. "If nothing happens, the situation is really quite terrifying," he said. "Without innovation, you're dead."
The coming water crisis is partly driven by population growth. But even more, it stems from a spirited overuse of the Earth's fresh water for agriculture, industry and all sorts of uses that turn good water bad. The Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute projected earlier this year that by 2025, only about a quarter of the
world's population will have enough fresh water. Roughly a third of the world's population will have too little water to meet their needs. That includes people in Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Israel, South Africa and half of India and China. This figure even takes into account that these countries will learn to use water more efficiently. As well,
about 40 per cent of the world's people will experience serious financial and development problems in their quest to find the increased amounts of water required. Among those countries are Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Nigeria and Turkey, as well as large parts of India and China.
In fact, even those frightening projections may underestimate the problem. Most scenarios don't take into account the effects of global warming. When that's taken into account, even such water-rich countries as the United States and Canada may be in for some trouble. From the point of view of the World Bank's Dr. Briscoe, a big part of
the solution is to make the cost of water reflect its value. Now, people use it virtually for free.
Reference
IN CHINA, THE DROUGHT IS NOW The Globe and Mail, July 31, 2000
Four hundred of China' 668 cities have now declared water shortages -- meaning the taps may function only a few hours a day, or not at all. At least 20-million Chinese don't have access to any running water. Another 200 million experience water shortages or some form of rationing that puts a serious crimp in their lives. In China this summer, there are daily examples of rivers, lakes and reservoirs drying up. The Songhua River, relied upon by 20 million, has gone dry. And Beijing's reservoirs, supplying 15 million, are dropping by the day.
The water shortages are the result of a century's worth of
environmental sins, what might be called China's three O's:
overgrazing, overlogging, and overpopulation. With each passing year, China -- 40 per cent of which is already a desert - sees about 2,500 square kilometres turn into desert. In addition, more than one half of China's 700 major rivers are polluted. Around urban areas, about 90 per cent of lakes, rivers and reservoirs are unfit to drink from.
Water shortages could force mass migrations of millions, which could destabilize Chinese society.
More on China and water in Grist magazine.
SOLAR STILL
A research institute in Israel has proposed a novel design for a solar still that can produce fresh water from saline or brackish water. Output from the unit would be 40 percent higher than conventional desalination systems. Water in the Middle East is scarce, but solar energy is plentiful.
from ENS
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New Energy for America
(and more) Barack Obama [2008 August]
"Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.
"As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy -- wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced."
Obama's acceptance speech. Better than McCain's plan, but Obama needs a lot of help too.
The Challenge to Repower America [2008 July 17]
"On July 17, Al Gore challenged America to produce 100 percent of our electricity from energy sources with zero carbon emissions - and to do so within 10 years. His speech, and the resulting dialogue, is resetting the way Americans think about our energy future and the climate crisis.
It may also be resetting our understanding of what is possible. The goal is ambitious, but achievable."
Pickens Plan [2008 July 17]
"IT'S TIME TO STOP AMERICA'S ADDICTION TO FOREIGN OIL
"America is in a hole and it's getting deeper every day. We import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual cost of the Iraq war."
Curiously the earliest entry on Pickens' website is the same day as Al Gore's speech. Ed.
Hard times for airlines [2008 July 1]
"...[T]here are no serious alternatives to jet fuel for airliners. And even if there were, they could never be cheap in a world of expensive energy. The problem is not that oil is scarce: the production has never been this high -- that's why we call it Peak Oil. The problem is that energy supply is not meeting global demand: until demand abates, any type of energy will end up costing the same, be it classical kerosene, gas-to-liquid synthetic jet fuel, or biodiesel. Regardless of the environmental footprint. Just know that if it was technologically feasible, filling an A380 tank with biofuel would use up 150 hectares of yearly yield, considering an optimistic figure of 2000 litres per hectare for Jatropha biodiesel. You'd need 150x2x365x150 = 16 million hectares -- the arable land in France -- to power the currently ordered A380 fleet.
"Meanwhile the fuel efficiency improvements do not come anywhere close to compensating the price surge. Boeing claim that their new 787 will burn 20% less fuel than current jets of the same category (namely the 767 or A330). 20% is how much oil prices rose between the beginning of April and mid-May 2008: 30 years of technological improvement in aircraft and engine design will offset six weeks of price increase, and no technological Deus ex Machina will change that deal."
New GAO Peak Oil Report Provides Urgent Call to Action: U.S. Vulnerable and the Government Unprepared for Unacceptably High Risks of Oil Supply Shock, by Congressmen Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Tom Udall (D-NM), co-chairmen of the Congressional Peak Oil Caucus [2007 March 29]
"This GAO peak oil report is a clarion call for leadership at the highest level of our country to avert an energy crisis unlike any the world has ever before experienced and one that we know could happen at any time. Only the President can rally the country to take the urgent steps necessary. Potential alternatives to oil are extremely limited. Technology won't save us without time and money to develop and scale them up."
GAO Peak Oil Report (Complete), Highlights
"... [B]y 2015 these technologies could displace only the equivalent of 4 percent of projected U.S. annual consumption. Under these circumstances, an imminent peak and sharp decline in oil production could have severe consequences, including a worldwide recession. If the peak comes later, however, these technologies have a greater potential to mitigate the consequences."
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Within the energy profession there are groups (e.g., ASPO, ASPO-USA) grappling with the challenge of "Peak Oil." While the efforts of Al Gore and others have raised awareness of the threat of global warming, society is not in any way prepared for the imminent decline in global oil production.
In the near term, declining production will impact certain countries more than others. Cantarell, the largest field in the western hemisphere, is declining rapidly. Over the next couple of years, Mexico's economy will be hard-hit.
Without imports, the USA's domestic oil reserves would be exhausted in three years at the current rate of consumption. The Oil War option is losing favor. Technological breakthroughs will be too slow and voluntary conservation will be too shallow to avert widespread disruption of economic activity, especially transportation and consequently food. Lacking the political will to make conscious, rapid, drastic changes, Americans will be subjected to Mother Nature's adjustments; She did not negotiate with the Mayor of New Orleans; nor will She negotiate the American Way of Life when Saudi Arabia's Ghawar field collapses of its own accord.
Liquid fuel substitutes (tar sands, coal-to-liquids, oil shale, surprisingly even ethanol and biodiesel) are carbon intensive and will only exacerbate global warming. Plus they cannot be scaled up on a timely basis.
It would take one new nuclear power plant every week until 2050 to fill the oil gap. Minor detail, uranium shortages would emerge long before 2050, unless as yet unproven breeder reactors come on line soon.
While it will take time, direct conversion of solar radiation to electricity (photovoltaics and concentrating solar power) can be scaled up. One viable sustainable alternative also exists for repetitive travel (e.g., commuting -- more than half of all urban transport). It is the rapid build-out of solar powered electric vehicles on fixed guideways (the "podcar"). A continuous solar array, well within the width of the guideway, is sufficient to provide 100% of the power required for this efficient form of high capacity transit.
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Water Crisis Network website...