IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i4p1879-d1067988.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water Energy Nexus and Energy Transition—A Review

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Helerea

    (Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, Transilvania University of Brasov, Blvd. Eroilor 29, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

  • Marius D. Calin

    (Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, Transilvania University of Brasov, Blvd. Eroilor 29, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

  • Cristian Musuroi

    (Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, Transilvania University of Brasov, Blvd. Eroilor 29, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

Abstract

The new perspectives of the water–energy nexus, water-for-energy and energy-for-water, emphasize the current and future need to find ways to produce as much energy with as low an amount of water as possible and to obtain as much water with as little energy as possible. In order to promote and implement the concept of sustainable development, the understanding of the dynamic and complex relationship between water and energy is crucial, especially in the context of energy transition. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the recent approaches regarding water and energy and the interlink during implementation, operation and servicing of various water and energy production systems. This endeavor is placed in the context of current energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. A qualitative and quantitative analysis is performed with various literature solutions from water-for-energy and energy-for-water perspectives for a broader view of the impact of implementing novel technologies in terms of resource use. Technological and managerial innovations are discussed and placed in a transdisciplinary context with a focus on establishing key approaches for achieving sustainable development goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Helerea & Marius D. Calin & Cristian Musuroi, 2023. "Water Energy Nexus and Energy Transition—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-31, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:4:p:1879-:d:1067988
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1879/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1879/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tarroja, Brian & Peer, Rebecca A.M. & Sanders, Kelly T. & Grubert, Emily, 2020. "How do non-carbon priorities affect zero-carbon electricity systems? A case study of freshwater consumption and cost for Senate Bill 100 compliance in California," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    2. Okadera, Tomohiro & Geng, Yong & Fujita, Tsuyoshi & Dong, Huijuan & Liu, Zhu & Yoshida, Noboru & Kanazawa, Takaaki, 2015. "Evaluating the water footprint of the energy supply of Liaoning Province, China: A regional input–output analysis approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-157.
    3. Ramos, Helena M. & Teyssier, Charlotte & Samora, Irene & Schleiss, Anton J., 2013. "Energy recovery in SUDS towards smart water grids: A case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 463-472.
    4. Zhang, Wei & Valencia, Andrea & Gu, Lixing & Zheng, Qipeng P. & Chang, Ni-Bin, 2020. "Integrating emerging and existing renewable energy technologies into a community-scale microgrid in an energy-water nexus for resilience improvement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    5. Peer, Rebecca A.M. & Sanders, Kelly T., 2018. "The water consequences of a transitioning US power sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 613-622.
    6. Kurian, Mathew, 2017. "The water-energy-food nexus," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 97-106.
    7. Jin, Yi & Behrens, Paul & Tukker, Arnold & Scherer, Laura, 2019. "Water use of electricity technologies: A global meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. DeNooyer, Tyler A. & Peschel, Joshua M. & Zhang, Zhenxing & Stillwell, Ashlynn S., 2016. "Integrating water resources and power generation: The energy–water nexus in Illinois," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 363-371.
    9. Lin, Long & Xu, Fuqing & Ge, Xumeng & Li, Yebo, 2018. "Improving the sustainability of organic waste management practices in the food-energy-water nexus: A comparative review of anaerobic digestion and composting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 151-167.
    10. Wang, Saige & Cao, Tao & Chen, Bin, 2017. "Urban energy–water nexus based on modified input–output analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 208-217.
    11. Mounir, Adil & Mascaro, Giuseppe & White, Dave D., 2019. "A metropolitan scale analysis of the impacts of future electricity mix alternatives on the water-energy nexus," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    12. Saleh, Layla & Mezher, Toufic, 2021. "Techno-economic analysis of sustainability and externality costs of water desalination production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    13. Ashlynn S. Stillwell & David C. Hoppock & Michael E. Webber, 2010. "Energy Recovery from Wastewater Treatment Plants in the United States: A Case Study of the Energy-Water Nexus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-18, April.
    14. Jonathan J. Buonocore & Ernani Choma & Aleyda H. Villavicencio & John D. Spengler & Dinah A. Koehler & John S. Evans & Jos Lelieveld & Piet Klop & Ramon Sanchez-Pina, 2019. "Correction: Metrics for the sustainable development goals: renewable energy and transportation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-2, December.
    15. Gao, Xuerui & Zhao, Yong & Lu, Shibao & Chen, Qianyun & An, Tingli & Han, Xinxueqi & Zhuo, La, 2019. "Impact of coal power production on sustainable water resources management in the coal-fired power energy bases of Northern China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 821-833.
    16. Esmaeil Ahmadi & Benjamin McLellan & Seiichi Ogata & Behnam Mohammadi-Ivatloo & Tetsuo Tezuka, 2020. "An Integrated Planning Framework for Sustainable Water and Energy Supply," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-37, May.
    17. Linghao Meng & Jusen Asuka, 2022. "Impacts of Energy Transition on Life Cycle Carbon Emission and Water Consumption in Japan’s Electric Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, April.
    18. He, Tianbiao & Zhang, Jibao & Mao, Ning & Linga, Praveen, 2021. "Organic Rankine cycle integrated with hydrate-based desalination for a sustainable energy–water nexus system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    19. Moazeni, Faegheh & Khazaei, Javad & Pera Mendes, Joao Paulo, 2020. "Maximizing energy efficiency of islanded micro water-energy nexus using co-optimization of water demand and energy consumption," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    20. Guerras, Lidia S. & Martín, Mariano, 2020. "On the water footprint in power production: Sustainable design of wet cooling towers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    21. Saeed Hadian & Kaveh Madani, 2013. "The Water Demand of Energy: Implications for Sustainable Energy Policy Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(11), pages 1-14, November.
    22. Cohen, Jed J. & Reichl, Johannes & Schmidthaler, Michael, 2014. "Re-focussing research efforts on the public acceptance of energy infrastructure: A critical review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 4-9.
    23. Rebecka Ericsdotter Engström & Georgia Destouni & Mark Howells & Vivek Ramaswamy & Holger Rogner & Morgan Bazilian, 2019. "Cross-Scale Water and Land Impacts of Local Climate and Energy Policy—A Local Swedish Analysis of Selected SDG Interactions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-28, March.
    24. Alena Lohrmann & Javier Farfan & Upeksha Caldera & Christoph Lohrmann & Christian Breyer, 2019. "Global scenarios for significant water use reduction in thermal power plants based on cooling water demand estimation using satellite imagery," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(12), pages 1040-1048, December.
    25. Izabela Zimoch & Ewelina Bartkiewicz & Joanna Machnik-Slomka & Iwona Klosok-Bazan & Adam Rak & Stanislav Rusek, 2021. "Sustainable Water Supply Systems Management for Energy Efficiency: A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
    26. Oliver Gretzschel & Michael Schäfer & Heidrun Steinmetz & Erich Pick & Kim Kanitz & Stefan Krieger, 2020. "Advanced Wastewater Treatment to Eliminate Organic Micropollutants in Wastewater Treatment Plants in Combination with Energy-Efficient Electrolysis at WWTP Mainz," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-28, July.
    27. Ding, Yakui & Li, Yongping & Zheng, Heran & Meng, Jing & Lv, Jing & Huang, Guohe, 2022. "Identifying critical energy-water paths and clusters within the urban agglomeration using machine learning algorithm," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    28. Bompard, E. & Botterud, A. & Corgnati, S. & Huang, T. & Jafari, M. & Leone, P. & Mauro, S. & Montesano, G. & Papa, C. & Profumo, F., 2020. "An electricity triangle for energy transition: Application to Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    29. Duvenhage, D. Frank & Brent, Alan C. & Stafford, William H.L., 2019. "The need to strategically manage CSP fleet development and water resources: A structured review and way forward," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 813-825.
    30. Fuentes-Cortés, Luis Fabián & Flores-Tlacuahuac, Antonio, 2018. "Integration of distributed generation technologies on sustainable buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 582-601.
    31. Helena M. Ramos & Jorge G. Morillo & Juan A. Rodríguez Diaz & Armando Carravetta & Aonghus McNabola, 2021. "Sustainable Water-Energy Nexus towards Developing Countries’ Water Sector Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.
    32. Sanders, Kelly T. & Webber, Michael E., 2015. "Evaluating the energy and CO2 emissions impacts of shifts in residential water heating in the United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 317-327.
    33. Fan, Jing-Li & Kong, Ling-Si & Wang, Hang & Zhang, Xian, 2019. "A water-energy nexus review from the perspective of urban metabolism," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 392(C), pages 128-136.
    34. Christopher A. Scott & Zachary P. Sugg, 2015. "Global Energy Development and Climate-Induced Water Scarcity—Physical Limits, Sectoral Constraints, and Policy Imperatives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-15, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joanna Bąk, 2023. "The Use of Precipitation in the Cities of the Future—Problems, Barriers and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-25, September.
    2. Malek Al-Chalabi, 2023. "Targeted and Tangential Effects—A Novel Framework for Energy Research and Practitioners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-12, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ding, Tao & Liang, Liang & Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Min & Wei, Yuqi, 2020. "Water-energy nexus: The origin, development and prospect," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 419(C).
    2. Wang, Xue-Chao & Jiang, Peng & Yang, Lan & Fan, Yee Van & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Yutao, 2021. "Extended water-energy nexus contribution to environmentally-related sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. Krarti, Moncef & Aldubyan, Mohammad, 2021. "Mitigation analysis of water consumption for power generation and air conditioning of residential buildings: Case study of Saudi Arabia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    4. Ana Luiza Fontenelle & Erik Nilsson & Ieda Geriberto Hidalgo & Cintia B. Uvo & Drielli Peyerl, 2022. "Temporal Understanding of the Water–Energy Nexus: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Ahmad, Shakeel & Jia, Haifeng & Chen, Zhengxia & Li, Qian & Xu, Changqing, 2020. "Water-energy nexus and energy efficiency: A systematic analysis of urban water systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    6. Yang, Xuechun & Wang, Yutao & Sun, Mingxing & Wang, Renqing & Zheng, Peiming, 2018. "Exploring the environmental pressures in urban sectors: An energy-water-carbon nexus perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 2298-2307.
    7. Wakeel, Muhammad & Chen, Bin & Hayat, Tasawar & Alsaedi, Ahmed & Ahmad, Bashir, 2016. "Energy consumption for water use cycles in different countries: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 868-885.
    8. de Oliveira, Glauber Cardoso & Bertone, Edoardo & Stewart, Rodney A., 2022. "Challenges, opportunities, and strategies for undertaking integrated precinct-scale energy–water system planning," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Hao Li & Yuhuan Zhao & Jiang Lin, 2020. "A review of the energy–carbon–water nexus: Concepts, research focuses, mechanisms, and methodologies," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), January.
    10. Cano-Rodríguez, Sara & Rubio-Varas, Mar & Sesma-Martín, Diego, 2022. "At the crossroad between green and thirsty: Carbon emissions and water consumption of Spanish thermoelectricity generation, 1969–2019," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    11. Wu, X.D. & Chen, G.Q., 2017. "Energy and water nexus in power generation: The surprisingly high amount of industrial water use induced by solar power infrastructure in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 125-136.
    12. Jin, Yi & Tang, Xu & Feng, Cuiyang & Höök, Mikael, 2017. "Energy and water conservation synergy in China: 2007–2012," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 206-215.
    13. Lv, J. & Li, Y.P. & Huang, G.H. & Suo, C. & Mei, H. & Li, Y., 2020. "Quantifying the impact of water availability on China's energy system under uncertainties: A perceptive of energy-water nexus," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    14. Rosa, Lorenzo & Sanchez, Daniel L. & Realmonte, Giulia & Baldocchi, Dennis & D'Odorico, Paolo, 2021. "The water footprint of carbon capture and storage technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Jin, Yi & Behrens, Paul & Tukker, Arnold & Scherer, Laura, 2021. "The energy-water nexus of China’s interprovincial and seasonal electric power transmission," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    16. Mitavachan Hiremath & Peter Viebahn & Sascha Samadi, 2021. "An Integrated Comparative Assessment of Coal-Based Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Vis-à-Vis Renewable Energies in India’s Low Carbon Electricity Transition Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-28, January.
    17. Radu Petrariu & Marius Constantin & Mihai Dinu & Simona Roxana Pătărlăgeanu & Mădălina Elena Deaconu, 2021. "Water, Energy, Food, Waste Nexus: Between Synergy and Trade-Offs in Romania Based on Entrepreneurship and Economic Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.
    18. Zhai, Haibo & Rubin, Edward S. & Grol, Eric J. & O'Connell, Andrew C. & Wu, Zitao & Lewis, Eric G., 2022. "Dry cooling retrofits at existing fossil fuel-fired power plants in a water-stressed region: Tradeoffs in water savings, cost, and capacity shortfalls," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PA).
    19. Wang, Saige & Liu, Yating & Chen, Bin, 2018. "Multiregional input–output and ecological network analyses for regional energy–water nexus within China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 353-364.
    20. Zhang, Tong & Tan, Qian & Yu, Xiaoning & Zhang, Shan, 2020. "Synergy assessment and optimization for water-energy-food nexus: Modeling and application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:4:p:1879-:d:1067988. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.