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One commonly-used argument against fluctuating renewables is their unpredictability. In contrast, thermal power generation and hydropower are regularly presented as reliable and dispatchable. However, droughts and floods can render useless the share of the power generation infrastructure that directly depends on freshwater. In this work, the global power sector is analysed from an energy-water nexus perspective to evaluate its reliability in case of severe water scarcity on a per-power plant basis, proposing a new method for combining it with water stress scores. At a country level, known individual thermal and hydropower plants are paired with regional water stress projections from 2020 to 2030 and their water source as a bottom-up approach to account for the capacities at risk and identify the points where water dependence could render a power system unreliable. The results show that, globally, about 65 % of generating capacities are directly freshwater-dependent. Moreover, the share of capacities placed in the low-resiliency group increases from 9 % of the total installed in 2020 to over 24 % in 2030 in all scenarios. The findings could help guide the development of the global power sector towards a less water-dependent system and accelerate the deployment of low water-demand power generation technologies. Smart Energy, 14 ISSN:2666-9552

Climate change and increasing population pressure make it increasingly urgent to find ways to improve the management of the water-energy nexus. The desalination, pumping, distribution, and treatment of water use significant energy resources. The extraction and production of energy consume substantial amounts of water resources. In addition, negative effects on the environment are often the consequences of the management of the water and energy sectors. The report highlights the prospects for addressing these and other challenges at the water-energy nexus. It does this by drawing, in part, on some of the most important breakthroughs in the nexus that have come from the region.

The dataset is composed by 12 files reporting the water availability and temperature scenarios for 167 water-dependent power plants in the Danube river basin and the Iberian Peninsula. The dataset is split into multiple files by region (Danube river basin (Danube) or Iberian Peninsula (IP)), variable (discharge or river temperature) and scenario (baseline, RCP26 or RCP85) considered. The title of each file is composed by the variable reported (discharge or river temperature) and the scenario considered (baseline: 1951-2004, RCP26: 2006-2100, RCP85: 2006-2100). The first row is used to report the fields considered: the first three columns report the day, the month and the year. The remaining columns report the name of the power plant considered in each region (57 for the Daube river basin and 110 for the Iberian Peninsula). In each row day, month, year and streamflow or river temperature values are reported for every water-dependent power plant examined in the study. Temperature is reported as daily average temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) while water availability is reported as daily average streamflow in cubic meters per second (m^3/s). For a description on how these files were obtained, please refer to https://doi.org/10.2777/135510. This dataset was produced in the context of the project "US-EU integrated power and water systems modelling" funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation, Directorate G. - Energy, Unit G3 - Renewable Energy Sources, PP-06161-2017.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently completed a rulemaking process in which it amended the existing energy efficiency standards for residential water heaters. A key factor in DOE?s consideration of new standards is the economic impacts on consumers. Determining such impacts requires a comparison of the additional first cost of energy efficiency design options with the savings in operating costs. This paper describes the method used to conduct the life-cycle cost (LCC) and payback period analysis for gas and electric storage water heaters. It presents the estimated change in LCC associated with more energy-efficient equipment, including heat pump electric water heaters and condensing gas water heaters, for a representative sample of U.S. homes. The study included a detailed accounting of installation costs for the considered design options, with a focus on approaches for accommodating the larger dimensions of more efficient water heaters. For heat pump water heaters, the study also considered airflow requirements, venting issues, and the impact of these products on the indoor environment. The results indicate that efficiency improvement relative to the baseline design reduces the LCC in the majority of homes for both gas and electric storage water heaters, and heat pump electric water heaters and condensing gas water heaters provide a lower LCC for homes with large rated volume water heaters.

As American drinking water agencies face higher production costs, demand, and energy prices, they seek opportunities to reduce costs without negatively affecting the quality of the water they deliver. This guide describes resources for cost-effectively improving the energy efficiency of U.S. public drinking water facilities. The guide (1) describes areas of opportunity for improving energy efficiency in drinking water facilities; (2) provides detailed descriptions of resources to consult for each area of opportunity; (3) offers supplementary suggestions and information for the area; and (4) presents illustrative case studies, including analysis of cost-effectiveness.

This report details the results of a research conducted in 1998 and 1999 and outlines a marketing deployment plan designed for businesses interested in marketing solar water heaters in the new home industry.

Describes ways to save energy and money on heating water.

This guidebook will help readers understand where and how renewable energy technologies can be used for water and wastewater treatment applications. It is specifically designed for rural and small urban center water supply and wastewater treatment applications. This guidebook also provides basic information for selecting water resources and for various kinds of commercially available water supply and wastewater treatment technologies and power sources currently in the market.

The global potential to obtain clean energy from mixing river water with seawater is considerable. Reverse electrodialysis is a membrane-based technique for direct production of sustainable electricity from controlled mixing of river water and seawater. It has been investigated generally with a focus on obtained power, without taking care of the energy recovery. Optimizing the technology to power output only, would generally give a low energetic efficiency. In the present work, therefore, we emphasized the aspect of energy recovery. No fundamental obstacle exists to achieve an energy recovery of > 80%. This number was obtained with taking into account no more than the energetic losses for ionic transport. Regarding the feasibility, it was assumed to be a necessary but not sufficient condition that these internal losses are limited. The internal losses could be minimized by reducing the intermembrane distance, especially from the compartments filled with the low-conducting river water. It was found that a reduction from 0.5 to 0.2 mm indeed could be beneficial, although not to the expected extent. From an evaluation of the internal losses, it was supposed that besides the compartment thickness, also the geometry of the spacer affects the internal resistance.