Implications for water of the world energy scenarios

There is an increasing concern in the energy sector about how to confront its growing water demand, in a global setting in which water is expected to become a scarcer good. Indeed, the increase in energy demand will require more water for cooling power plants, for growing biofuels, or for extracting and refining fuels. On the other hand, the intensive use of fossil fuels for energy contributes significantly to a climate change that will reduce in some countries water inflows and in most of them will make them more irregular, thus increasing the risk of water stress. This paper tries to assess the new water uses related to the different energy scenarios, and the relative weight that energy uses of water will have on different regions under each one. Results show that, although there should not be significant problems at the global level, a careless selection of energy technologies and management of water resources might create problems in some regions, such as Middle East, China, Latin America or some parts of Asia. The right economic signals should be devised to avoid these potential crises.