Asme ETP 6 Energy-Water Nexus: Will Water Determine Our Energy Future?

The ASME Energy Committee (EnComm) has developed and written a series of Energy Talking Point papers (ETP’s). The EnComm comprises 40 members from 17 Divisions of ASME. The ETP’s are produced and reviewed by the ASME Energy Committee to address fundamental questions that should be asked regarding the future of energy. The papers are used to inform congress, congressional staffers, and others on energy issues. The papers take no position but represent the best technical information available on the subject at the time they are written.  This ETP (#6) is on the Energy-Water Nexus.

Energy and water are two vitally interconnected resources – electricity generation requires water supply and providing potable water requires electricity. Water is critical to our energy future! This inter-dependent relationship and future constraints on water supply may affect the choices about how we get our energy. Therefore, water and energy efficiencies have a compounding effect on water and energy availability.