Drought is not the only factor limiting water availability to farmers in California’s Central Valley. In 2008, California determined to flush more cold river water through the Delta to protect the threatened delta smelt. The fish’s health is an indicator of the overall health of the river.
California is running low on its long-term water supplies. While it is the current leader in high value fruit, vegetable and nut production, a prolonged shortage will open up opportunities for other jurisdictions. Last year, during the second year of the drought, more than 100,000 acres of the 4.7 million in the valley were left unplanted, and experts predict that number could soar to nearly 850,000 acres this year.
All of which could mean shorter supplies and higher prices in produce aisles — California is the nation’s biggest producer of tomatoes, almonds, avocados, grapes, artichokes, onions, lettuce, olives and dozens of other crops — and increased desperation for people like Agustin Martinez, a 20-year veteran of the fields who generally makes $8 an hour picking fruit and pruning.
These extremely difficult decisions are likely to become increasingly common as rainfall patterns shift and glaciers melt as a result of global warming. Most climate models predict that rainfall will become increasingly erratic, with rain coming in big storms separated by longer dry stretches.
The state has put the 2008 drought losses at more than $300 million, and economists predict that this year’s losses could swell past $2 billion, with as many as 80,000 jobs lost.
The effort to save fish habitat has effectively put a stop to any additional water
storage projects that would alleviate the pressure on farmers.
In Mendota, the self-described cantaloupe center of the world, a walk through town reveals young men in cowboy hats loitering, awaiting the vans that take workers to the fields. None arrive.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Indian Sugar and the poor Monsoon
After India's driest June in 83 years, four of 28 provinces have declared drought, and many farmers don't have enough water to grow a full crop. More than half of Uttar Pradesh state, the most populous state and a key area for farming rice and sugar cane, is suffering from drought. Rainfall between June 1 and July 22 was 19% below normal, with the northern and northwestern regions worst hit.
60% of India's farmland is rain-fed, with the rest relying on irrigation. If rainfall remains sporadic through September, winter-crop yields, such as wheat, could also be hurt, analysts said.
One of the most water intensive crop is sugarcane, and the drought in Uttar Pradesh has had a global impact on Sugar prices. Prices have more than doubled from 10 cents a pound to more than 20 cents a pound now.
Brazil, the largest sugar producer in the world, will benefit, as India moves to import upto a third of its needs. Only 2 years ago , India was an exporter of sugar.
As the demand for water in India is increasing from 634 BCM (billion cubic metres) in 2000 to 813 BCM in 2010, 1443 in 2020, dependence on the monsoon will be increasing manifold in the years to come.
Under the circumstances, carefully designed investment strategy on low-cost but effective watershed management, restoration and management of natural water bodies with the help of peoples’ participation would go a long way in mitigating the impact of monsoon.
Diverting China's Water
In North China, lack of rainfall has exacerbated a long term problem in a very dry region. declining water tables and the increasing urban population is forcing agricultural intensity. In the last 12 months, more than 100 rainless days was a record in recent decades.
The Northern half of China has over 40% of the country's population, more than 50% of the arable land and much industry due to its coal reserves – yet less than 20% of the nation's water.
Most of the Water is in the South of China.
China said last month that it would spend 21.3bn yuan on the next phase of its ambitious water diversion project to help the arid north. The multibillion dollar scheme, which will take up to half a century to complete, will connect the Yangtze, Huaihe, Yellow and Haihe rivers. It will require the creation of east, middle and western channels and will eventually divert 44.8bn cubic metres of water annually. The first phase of the eastern programme will begin to deliver water by 2013.
The scheme was first conceived in the fifties, but that many people believed its time had come because the situation in the north was now so dire. This will not fill up the whole gap, conserving water is the most urgent priority that needs attention.
Meanwhile in Beijing
Beijing’s water supply will reach crisis point in 2010. Probe International, a Canadian environmental group, estimated in a report in June that with Beijing’s reservoirs down to one-tenth of their capacity, two-thirds of Beijing’s water supply was now being drawn from underground.
Beijing has been trying to reduce demand by increasing water tariffs, which are far too low to cover costs. Xinhua reported that the city government was considering a plan to charge residents two to five times more for water if they exceed a monthly quota. Boosting prices might also encourage recycling. Probe International said Beijing’s industries were now recycling 15% of their water consumption, compared with 85% in developed countries.
The Northern half of China has over 40% of the country's population, more than 50% of the arable land and much industry due to its coal reserves – yet less than 20% of the nation's water.
Most of the Water is in the South of China.
China said last month that it would spend 21.3bn yuan on the next phase of its ambitious water diversion project to help the arid north. The multibillion dollar scheme, which will take up to half a century to complete, will connect the Yangtze, Huaihe, Yellow and Haihe rivers. It will require the creation of east, middle and western channels and will eventually divert 44.8bn cubic metres of water annually. The first phase of the eastern programme will begin to deliver water by 2013.
The scheme was first conceived in the fifties, but that many people believed its time had come because the situation in the north was now so dire. This will not fill up the whole gap, conserving water is the most urgent priority that needs attention.
Meanwhile in Beijing
Beijing’s water supply will reach crisis point in 2010. Probe International, a Canadian environmental group, estimated in a report in June that with Beijing’s reservoirs down to one-tenth of their capacity, two-thirds of Beijing’s water supply was now being drawn from underground.
Beijing has been trying to reduce demand by increasing water tariffs, which are far too low to cover costs. Xinhua reported that the city government was considering a plan to charge residents two to five times more for water if they exceed a monthly quota. Boosting prices might also encourage recycling. Probe International said Beijing’s industries were now recycling 15% of their water consumption, compared with 85% in developed countries.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
trading water and crop outsourcing
China secured the right to grow palm oil for biofuel on 2.8m hectares of Congo, which would be the world's largest palm-oil plantation. It is negotiating to grow biofuels on 2m hectares in Zambia, a country where Chinese farms are said to produce a quarter of the eggs sold in the capital, Lusaka. According to one estimate, 1m Chinese farm labourers will be working in Africa this year, a number one African leader called "catastrophic".
If any investor has a long view on world markets, it's Lord Jacob Rothschild. The 73-year-old scion of the world-famous European banking dynasty need only look to his own family history, which dates back some 200 years to the rise of patriarch Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt. "We think right now is an excellent point of entry for taking a long-term position in agriculture," he recently said.
Rothschild did just that last year when he invested $36 million for a 24% stake in a venture called Agrifirma Brazil.
Agrifirma has already acquired some 100,000 acres in the Brazilian state of Bahia and holds an option on another 60,000. This summer it will produce its first crops of soybeans, cotton, and corn. Rothschild and Watson say they chose Brazil in part because there was a large quantity of scrubland, or cerrado, that could be irrigated and converted to farmland, enhancing the value greatly. They also liked the fact that its economy has been growing robustly. And perhaps most important, Brazil has 14% of the world's freshwater resources, the most of any country. "The world is fully in a water crisis, and we haven't realized it yet," says Watson. "When you're exporting agriculture, you're de facto exporting water."
If Water is becoming the "rate limiting Step", the the drought in Australia is forcing farmed to decide crop planting based on water efficiency. recently , the Australian govt. passed tradable rights laws which allow Australian farmers to have the right to use a certain amount of water free. They can sell that right (called a “usufructuary right”) to others. But if they want more water themselves, they must buy it from a neighbour. The result of this trading is a market that has done what markets do: allocate resources to more productive use. Australia has endured its worst drought in modern history in the past ten years. Water supplies in some farming areas have fallen by half. Yet farmers have responded to the new market signals by switching to less thirsty crops and kept the value of farm output stable. Water productivity has doubled. Australia’s system overcomes the usual objections because it confirms farmers’ rights to water and lets them have much of it for nothing.
Tradable-usage rights have another advantage: they can be used in rough and ready form in huge countries such as China and India that do not have meters to measure usage, or strong legal systems to enforce usage rights. Instead of sophisticated infrastructure, they depend on local trust and knowledge: farmers sell a share of their time at the village pump. A system like that works in parts of Pakistan’s Punjab.
As the adjoining graph shows, India, China have to find ways to combat the unsustainable water withdrawal rates and outsourcing crops and tradable water rights are one water to drive the productive use of water. exporting the entire crop production to Africa, as China is pioneering, is one way to conserve water.
Friday, May 1, 2009
A tale of two Rivers : Ganges & Indus
Globally, free-flowing rivers, particularly those moving over a distance of more
than 1,000 Km are increasingly rare. Only 21 (12%) of the world’s 177 longest rivers run freely from source to sea, and the Salween is the last large free-flowing river in SE Asia. We know that free-flowing rivers provide water purification, sediment flux transportation and deposition, coastal and coral reef support, and cultural and aesthetic services which benefit people. Still, our understanding of the contributions they make to the global ecosystem is limited.
Two rivers whose natural flow has been interrupted over the millennia, are the Ganges and the Indus. Both depend on the Himalayan Glaciers for water and have supported millions of people and their livelihood over the ages. ( about 1/2 a Bil.in 2009)
Ganges Water suffers with Over-extraction, combined with climate change, this could spell disater for >200 Million people who depend on it ..
Ganges River Basin
Length: 2,507 Km
Basin size: 1,016,124 Km2
Population: roughly 200 million people Population density: average 401 people/ Km2 Key economic activity: agriculture
Key threats: water extraction, 14 proposed large dams since 2004. Other threat: climate change
Water withdrawal poses a serious threat to the Ganges. In India, barrages control all of the tributaries to the Ganges and divert roughly 60% of river flow to large scale irrigation . India controls the flow of the Ganges into Bangladesh
with over 30 upstream water diversions. The largest, the Farraka Barrage, 18 Km from the border of Bangladesh, reduced the average monthly discharge of the Ganges from 2,213 m3/s to a low of 316m3/s [14%]
The Indus is even more sensitive to climate change. The Himalayan glaciers provide the Indus with 70-80% of its water,the highest proportion of any river in Asia. This is double the proportion of water that they provide the Ganges (30%-40%).
Indus River Basin
Length: 2,900 Km Basin size: 1,081,718 Km2
Population: 178,483,470 people
Population density: 165 people/ Km2
Key economic activity: agriculture
Key threat: climate change
Other threats: water extraction, agricultural pollution, water infrastructure,
6 proposed large dams
The Indus river basin spans parts of four countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China) in an area that is more than 30% arid,and much drier than the nearby Ganges river basin.
The Indus River is critical for Pakistan’s 160 million people, and irrigates 80% of its 21.5 million ha of agricultural land.
The Indus River is extremely sensitive to climate change due to the high portion of its flow derived from glaciers. Temperature controls the rate of glacier melt, which in turn, provides more water in dry, warm years and less water in cool years. River catchments with a large portion of glacial melt water experience less variability in water flows. With climate warming, many glaciers will no longer exist to moderate the flow of these rivers. Thus communities which depend on glacier water will face more severe water shortages, variability and potentially greater flooding too.
The Indus basin is already suffering from severe water scarcity due to over extraction for agriculture, causing salt water intrusion in the delta. In 1995, the Indus River already supplied much less water per person than the minimum recommended by the United Nations and by 2025 is predicted to suffer even more severe water scarcity.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Lakes : going.. going.. gone
Water like energy will be a defining issue for the next half a century. Lakes are disappearing on every continent and for the same reasons: excessive diversion of water from rivers and over pumping of aquifers.
Disappearing Lakes
River flows are reduced and water tables are falling from over extraction. Lakes are shrinking and in some cases disappearing. Some of the world’s best known lakes - Lake Chad in Central Africa, the Aral Sea in Central Asia, and the Sea of Galilee are shrinking and disappearing...
“walking on the Sea of Galilee is a feat a mere mortal can accomplish,”
Of all the shrinking lakes and inland seas, none has gotten as much attention as the Aral Sea. Ports are now abandoned and look like the ghost mining towns of the American West.
Each day the wind lifts thousands of tons of sand and salt from the dry seabed, polluting the regions for miles around.
The disappearance of lakes is perhaps most pronounced in China. China’s Qinhai province, through which the Yellow River’s main stream flows, there were once 4,077 lakes. Over the last 20 years, more than half have disappeared. The situation is far worse in Hebei Province, which surrounds Beijing. With water tables falling throughout this region, Hebei has lost 969 of its 1,052 lakes.
Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest, is the primary source of water for Guadalajara, which is home to 4 million people. Expanding irrigation in the region has reduced water volume in the lake by 80 percent.
There is no Box
current US policy promotes waste while prices do not reflect true costs. When Elizabeth Kolbert, a writer for the New Yorker, asked energy guru Amory Lovins about thinking outside the box, Lovins responded: "There is no box".Were running out of options and there is really no alternative.. No one knows exactly how many lakes have disappeared over the last half-century, but we do know that thousands of them now exist only on old maps.
Disappearing Lakes
River flows are reduced and water tables are falling from over extraction. Lakes are shrinking and in some cases disappearing. Some of the world’s best known lakes - Lake Chad in Central Africa, the Aral Sea in Central Asia, and the Sea of Galilee are shrinking and disappearing...
“walking on the Sea of Galilee is a feat a mere mortal can accomplish,”
Of all the shrinking lakes and inland seas, none has gotten as much attention as the Aral Sea. Ports are now abandoned and look like the ghost mining towns of the American West.
Each day the wind lifts thousands of tons of sand and salt from the dry seabed, polluting the regions for miles around.
The disappearance of lakes is perhaps most pronounced in China. China’s Qinhai province, through which the Yellow River’s main stream flows, there were once 4,077 lakes. Over the last 20 years, more than half have disappeared. The situation is far worse in Hebei Province, which surrounds Beijing. With water tables falling throughout this region, Hebei has lost 969 of its 1,052 lakes.
Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest, is the primary source of water for Guadalajara, which is home to 4 million people. Expanding irrigation in the region has reduced water volume in the lake by 80 percent.
There is no Box
current US policy promotes waste while prices do not reflect true costs. When Elizabeth Kolbert, a writer for the New Yorker, asked energy guru Amory Lovins about thinking outside the box, Lovins responded: "There is no box".Were running out of options and there is really no alternative.. No one knows exactly how many lakes have disappeared over the last half-century, but we do know that thousands of them now exist only on old maps.
Grow your food where the water is : Even if that's in another country !
In China the water table under the North China Plain, an area that produces more than half of the country's wheat and a third of its corn, is falling fast. Overpumping has used up most of the water in a shallow aquifer there, forcing well drillers to turn to the region's deep aquifer, which is not replenishable. As water tables have fallen and irrigation wells have gone dry, China's wheat crop, the world's largest, has declined by 8% since it peaked at 123 million tons in 1997. In that same period China's rice production dropped 4%. The world's most populous nation may soon be importing massive quantities of grain.
But water shortages are even more worrying in India. There the margin between food consumption and survival is more precarious. Millions of irrigation wells have dropped water tables in almost every state. Half of India's traditional hand-dug wells and millions of shallower tube wells have already dried up, bringing a spate of suicides among those who rely on them. Electricity blackouts are reaching epidemic proportions in states where half of the electricity is used to pump water from depths of up to a kilometer [3,300 feet].
A World Bank study reports that 15 % of India's food supply is produced by mining groundwater. Stated otherwise, 175 million Indians consume grain produced with water from irrigation wells that will soon be exhausted. The continued shrinking of water supplies could lead to unmanageable food shortages and social conflict.
Between the start of 2007 and the middle of 2008, The Economist index of food prices rose 78%; soybeans and rice both soared more than 130%. In the five largest grain exporters, the ratio of stocks to consumption-plus-exports fell to 11% in 2009, below its ten-year average of over 15% , this shrinking of food stocks is driving countries with large populations ( India, china ) to try out alternative investment models to food security.
Traditionally Governments used to invest in domestic agriculture, cereal and food production became a prime target for investments. ( Rice in Japan, Fruit in Saudi Arabia Etc..) However, in the recent past, Governments are inviting other governments to develop and invest in their Ag sector. Africa is a very prominent destination and China is a large investor..OPEC/Mid East oil exporting countries are another.
China secured the right to grow palm oil for biofuel on 2.8m hectares of Congo, which would be the world’s largest palm-oil plantation. It is negotiating to grow biofuels on 2m hectares in Zambia, a country where Chinese farms are said to produce a quarter of the eggs sold in the capital, Lusaka. According to one estimate, 1m Chinese farm labourers will be working in Africa this year.Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the chairman of Nestlé, claims: “The purchases weren’t about land, but water. For with the land comes the right to withdraw the water linked to it, in most countries essentially a freebie that increasingly could be the most valuable part of the deal.” He calls it “the great water grab”.
The China Development Bank has granted loans worth millions of dollars to agricultural processing firms in East Africa. Chinese assistance has been provided to plan crops of cereals as well as cash crops like rubber and pine. Angola has received a $ 1 billion agricultural loan from Beijing to improve the sector after decades of war. Senegal recently signed a deal to sell 10,000 tons of groundnut oil to China during Chinese premier Hu Jintao’s visit.
This is a solution that balances the water-ag-food connection. Given 70% of the world water se is Agriculture, the "export" of crop production to "water-rich" countries in Africa is a trend that will accelerate is the coming years.
But water shortages are even more worrying in India. There the margin between food consumption and survival is more precarious. Millions of irrigation wells have dropped water tables in almost every state. Half of India's traditional hand-dug wells and millions of shallower tube wells have already dried up, bringing a spate of suicides among those who rely on them. Electricity blackouts are reaching epidemic proportions in states where half of the electricity is used to pump water from depths of up to a kilometer [3,300 feet].
A World Bank study reports that 15 % of India's food supply is produced by mining groundwater. Stated otherwise, 175 million Indians consume grain produced with water from irrigation wells that will soon be exhausted. The continued shrinking of water supplies could lead to unmanageable food shortages and social conflict.
Between the start of 2007 and the middle of 2008, The Economist index of food prices rose 78%; soybeans and rice both soared more than 130%. In the five largest grain exporters, the ratio of stocks to consumption-plus-exports fell to 11% in 2009, below its ten-year average of over 15% , this shrinking of food stocks is driving countries with large populations ( India, china ) to try out alternative investment models to food security.
Traditionally Governments used to invest in domestic agriculture, cereal and food production became a prime target for investments. ( Rice in Japan, Fruit in Saudi Arabia Etc..) However, in the recent past, Governments are inviting other governments to develop and invest in their Ag sector. Africa is a very prominent destination and China is a large investor..OPEC/Mid East oil exporting countries are another.
China secured the right to grow palm oil for biofuel on 2.8m hectares of Congo, which would be the world’s largest palm-oil plantation. It is negotiating to grow biofuels on 2m hectares in Zambia, a country where Chinese farms are said to produce a quarter of the eggs sold in the capital, Lusaka. According to one estimate, 1m Chinese farm labourers will be working in Africa this year.Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the chairman of Nestlé, claims: “The purchases weren’t about land, but water. For with the land comes the right to withdraw the water linked to it, in most countries essentially a freebie that increasingly could be the most valuable part of the deal.” He calls it “the great water grab”.
The China Development Bank has granted loans worth millions of dollars to agricultural processing firms in East Africa. Chinese assistance has been provided to plan crops of cereals as well as cash crops like rubber and pine. Angola has received a $ 1 billion agricultural loan from Beijing to improve the sector after decades of war. Senegal recently signed a deal to sell 10,000 tons of groundnut oil to China during Chinese premier Hu Jintao’s visit.
This is a solution that balances the water-ag-food connection. Given 70% of the world water se is Agriculture, the "export" of crop production to "water-rich" countries in Africa is a trend that will accelerate is the coming years.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Agasthya and the Water Trifecta
Legend has it that Agasthya, the Indian Vedic guru, drank all the water in the oceans to pursue a demon. Now India needs a lot of water to support it's growing populations and a reverse-Agasthya is needed to convert the ocean waters to better use - desalination ?
India is largely a Vegetarian country living off cereals and vegetables. The water needed to grow these crops is a fraction of the water needed to produce meat. China, on the other hand, has a growing population with accelerating consumption of meat. China in 1985 had a per capita consumption of Beef of 20 Kg. In 2009 this consumption is 50kg ..water needed to support the production of meat is 390 Trillion Liters. A kilogram of Meat needs about 15 000 Liters of water compared to about 1000 Liters for Wheat.
The majority of the 2 Billion humans that will be added to the world by 2025, will be in India and China. Over this time frame, wealth will drive the per capita protein consumption in both India and China putting a disproportionate pressure on water needed to grow this food.
Even the cloth to clothe these populations will demand a lot of water. To make a Kg of cotton cloth, 11 000 Liters of Water are consumed. India and China are among the top 3 producers of cotton :
Millions of Bales of Cotton :
1. China 25,500
2.United States 17,559
3.India 12,500
In fact India and China combined are twice the size of the US cotton Production.
With current drought conditions in China and scarcity of Water in India, a change in the policy of both countries to reuse and recycle water is needed now to endure the coming crises in Water.
The trifecta of food, population and water scarcity is the impending challenge before us.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Mexico : water shortages
Mexico City has a lot of water until it was drained in the 60s this Easter, 5 Million people went without water as the water levels in the reservoirs are very low.
The National Infrastructure plan identified in 2007 as a cornerstone of development in Mexico is designed to improve this situation . The NIP identifies over 300 infrastructure projects in multiple sectors with spending targeted at over $141 billion .
Lack of water for human and agriculture poses one of the biggest threats to development and one way is to add more water capacity ( one of the NIP Projects is to build a 650MGD Water plant in Mexico City ) another way is to improve farm productivity.
Maize, a staple diet for Mexicans is very wasteful in the consumption of water compared to corn grown in the US.The most efficient user of water in corn is the US , India at 2500 m3 is closer to Mexico with a 5x water footprint. In fact, if the water used in all the Cereals imported into USA were to be calculated a 7 Bil m3 of virtual water flows from the US to Mexico.
This virtual water is keeping pressure off the stressed water condition in Mexico.
The National Infrastructure plan identified in 2007 as a cornerstone of development in Mexico is designed to improve this situation . The NIP identifies over 300 infrastructure projects in multiple sectors with spending targeted at over $141 billion .
Lack of water for human and agriculture poses one of the biggest threats to development and one way is to add more water capacity ( one of the NIP Projects is to build a 650MGD Water plant in Mexico City ) another way is to improve farm productivity.
Maize, a staple diet for Mexicans is very wasteful in the consumption of water compared to corn grown in the US.The most efficient user of water in corn is the US , India at 2500 m3 is closer to Mexico with a 5x water footprint. In fact, if the water used in all the Cereals imported into USA were to be calculated a 7 Bil m3 of virtual water flows from the US to Mexico.
This virtual water is keeping pressure off the stressed water condition in Mexico.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Low Cost Potable Water
I follow the Earth Institute and came across the video clip covering the work JM Eagle did in Senegal , piping water to a village and freeing up time for the folk there, especially women.One of the images in the video is of a water tower and it looks like the one in the picture on the right.
The equipment in the front in this picture ( from Thailand) is a system we have developed and deployed in many countries that are off the water grid.
Typically towns in the 5 000 to 20 000 range with potable water supply needs. This system has few moving parts, and is easy to operation , with very low maintenance .. We have installed these in St Lucia, Puerto Rico & Thailand.
Rough Costs of a 20 Gal / Day /head for this system works out to a range of 2 to 3 US $ per Year. No special skills, energy consumption is a fraction of a membrane system delivering comparable water quality.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Green energy $$s for your project
The drive for energy efficiency and alternate sources of energy have every business and Government searching to level the differential between the COE ( cost of energy ) of fossil ( typically Coal) Vs the new clean and green forms .. maily wind and solar.. 2 websites consolidate tax incentives and grants from both federal and state sources.
www.dsireusa.org
www.energytaxincentive.org
www.dsireusa.org
www.energytaxincentive.org
Monday, April 6, 2009
2CO2 to H2O: The limits of business as usual
In "Common Wealth", Jeffery Sachs's book on sustainability, the concept of the concentration of CO2 in the air is very well explained. The base case (1960) of about 260 ppm and the current 380 ppm implies a business as usual rate that will get us to twice the 1960s concentration ( 560ppm) in 2100. But several other factors are accelerating the concentration and cut the time down by about 50 years. So in 2 generations, the concentration will double. At 2CO2, the planet is in a catastrophic failed state. Ouch!
Changing weather patterns, impact rain and river flow, while de-salination appears to be the easy way out, changing salt water into drinking water is expensive.. the vast amount of energy needed will keep this technology for the rich. Limiting global pervasive use to have any worldwide effect that is needed in the context of the climate change crisis. Additionally, cities inland will have to pump the water from the sea exacerbating the energy crisis ( CO2 emissions )
So the solutions need to be very energy efficient. Use less water and reuse water. Agriculture needs to get dramatically "water efficient" ( the #1 water user in the world - 65% on a global basis )
As Sachs puts it .. "more crop per drop"
Meanwhile, Water efficient companies are tracking their water footprint) It's becoming as important as "Carbon Footprint" and companies are measuring this. In a related twist, Pepsi, a large water consumer/seller , has an initiative to support the H2O Africa Initiative for sustainable water practices. Coke measures itself against sustainability goals, planning to clean and return all the waste water it generates to the environment, by 2010.
For every Liter of Coke sold, 2.47 Liters of water are used. This was about 3 Liters in 2003.
In conclusion, at the global level, GHC/Climate change is creating an expanding water crisis and at the consumer level, water footprint and carbon footprint are driving brand equity. Making efficient use of water a smart business proposition.
Changing weather patterns, impact rain and river flow, while de-salination appears to be the easy way out, changing salt water into drinking water is expensive.. the vast amount of energy needed will keep this technology for the rich. Limiting global pervasive use to have any worldwide effect that is needed in the context of the climate change crisis. Additionally, cities inland will have to pump the water from the sea exacerbating the energy crisis ( CO2 emissions )
So the solutions need to be very energy efficient. Use less water and reuse water. Agriculture needs to get dramatically "water efficient" ( the #1 water user in the world - 65% on a global basis )
As Sachs puts it .. "more crop per drop"
Meanwhile, Water efficient companies are tracking their water footprint) It's becoming as important as "Carbon Footprint" and companies are measuring this. In a related twist, Pepsi, a large water consumer/seller , has an initiative to support the H2O Africa Initiative for sustainable water practices. Coke measures itself against sustainability goals, planning to clean and return all the waste water it generates to the environment, by 2010.
For every Liter of Coke sold, 2.47 Liters of water are used. This was about 3 Liters in 2003.
In conclusion, at the global level, GHC/Climate change is creating an expanding water crisis and at the consumer level, water footprint and carbon footprint are driving brand equity. Making efficient use of water a smart business proposition.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Is Municipal Sludge useful?
Once Municipal waste water is treated, the sludge, also known as BioSolids, are dried and applied to land as fertilizer. There is a lot of controversy over this use of sludge. Harmful effects and beneficial effects with data and testing on both sides are hotly debated. All this resulted in the EPA Part 503 rule dealing with the disposal of sludge on land.
One of the best accounts of the effects of the bugs/pollutants in the sludge after treatment, is in the book - The Big Necessity. A chapter called BioSolids explains the Citizens and the Municipality's point of view. a must read.
EPA rules referred to as the 503 rule, addresses the pathogens ( bugs) in the residual sludge ( Biosolids) . States need to adopt this or make there own rules up. These rules are very difficult to follow, police or implement. so there is uncertainty and confusion with each state having it's own set of codes and rules.
In a recent publication of the EPA, about 3300 water treatment plants were tested for residual pollutants ( these are plants treating > 1 Mil. gallons a day ). Trace elements of Pharmaceuticals were found in most of the effluent. Antibiotics and endocrine disruptors appear to be the problem pollutants that persist ( although in Trace amounts ) in the treated water.
Now the EPA will study the "fate an degradation rate" of these pollutants .. that is , how fast do these pollutants degrade to become harmless to humans, and what concentrations do they need to be in, to be harmful in the first place.
Countering the EPA's report is a report out today that shows estrogen in mineral water bottles, leaching out of plastic as XenoHormone ( compound that mimics a hormone)
... to be continued..
One of the best accounts of the effects of the bugs/pollutants in the sludge after treatment, is in the book - The Big Necessity. A chapter called BioSolids explains the Citizens and the Municipality's point of view. a must read.
EPA rules referred to as the 503 rule, addresses the pathogens ( bugs) in the residual sludge ( Biosolids) . States need to adopt this or make there own rules up. These rules are very difficult to follow, police or implement. so there is uncertainty and confusion with each state having it's own set of codes and rules.
In a recent publication of the EPA, about 3300 water treatment plants were tested for residual pollutants ( these are plants treating > 1 Mil. gallons a day ). Trace elements of Pharmaceuticals were found in most of the effluent. Antibiotics and endocrine disruptors appear to be the problem pollutants that persist ( although in Trace amounts ) in the treated water.
Now the EPA will study the "fate an degradation rate" of these pollutants .. that is , how fast do these pollutants degrade to become harmless to humans, and what concentrations do they need to be in, to be harmful in the first place.
Countering the EPA's report is a report out today that shows estrogen in mineral water bottles, leaching out of plastic as XenoHormone ( compound that mimics a hormone)
... to be continued..
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Manure: new source of renewable energy
In 2008, Dairy Manure from 3 stares contributes to half of 125 digesters installed in USA. PA, NY and WI are large Dairy states with the most installed anaerobic digesters.
In Europe, UK and Germany lead the installed base with > 70% energy generated by digesters. There are 1000s of Digesters in Europe and only 125 in USA. We have tapped less than 2 % of the energy potential from this renewable source: Manure.( 6500 farms are potential sites for digesters) Environmental Impact
Digester Gas, Methane (CH4) is 20x more harmful than CO2. Burning CH4 and converting it to energy, solves the GHG emissions problem and CO2 offsets (direct and indirect) can be encashed with the imminent cap-and-trade regs system.
Technology
One of the problems with the experience of farmers in USA is the bedding contamination in the digester. Most large farms (CAFOs) in USA have cows bedded on Sand. Cows on Sawdust or woodchips are prone to higher cull rates and poor milk quality. Cows on Sand, on the other hand, have longer life, live healthy and produce better and more milk.
But sand clogs the digester. There is need to eliminate the sand from the digester before it can get to the digesters. Over the last decade, 90 out of 100 digesters stopped working due to contamination, or lack of proper anaerobic process technology.
Nowadays, complete mix technology, a process started in Europe, is catching on.. The issue with sand is being addressed with a removal process installed in farms with about 95% to 99% removal of sand. The Parkson sand saver can be viewed on YouTube.
In Europe, UK and Germany lead the installed base with > 70% energy generated by digesters. There are 1000s of Digesters in Europe and only 125 in USA. We have tapped less than 2 % of the energy potential from this renewable source: Manure.( 6500 farms are potential sites for digesters) Environmental Impact
Digester Gas, Methane (CH4) is 20x more harmful than CO2. Burning CH4 and converting it to energy, solves the GHG emissions problem and CO2 offsets (direct and indirect) can be encashed with the imminent cap-and-trade regs system.
Technology
One of the problems with the experience of farmers in USA is the bedding contamination in the digester. Most large farms (CAFOs) in USA have cows bedded on Sand. Cows on Sawdust or woodchips are prone to higher cull rates and poor milk quality. Cows on Sand, on the other hand, have longer life, live healthy and produce better and more milk.
But sand clogs the digester. There is need to eliminate the sand from the digester before it can get to the digesters. Over the last decade, 90 out of 100 digesters stopped working due to contamination, or lack of proper anaerobic process technology.
Nowadays, complete mix technology, a process started in Europe, is catching on.. The issue with sand is being addressed with a removal process installed in farms with about 95% to 99% removal of sand. The Parkson sand saver can be viewed on YouTube.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Energy and device efficiency: in a Cap-and-Trade system
When cap and trade comes into force, later this year, there is pressure to cut CO2 emissions from the burning of coal to make electricity, especially from coal burning plants. Natural gas, a cleaner fuel, is preferred to coal. Nat. Gas emits about 0.5kg CO2 per kWhr of electricity and coal burning power plants emit 0.8Kg to 1.2Kg depending on type of coal.
Natural Gas vs. Conventional Coal based power.
For A Conventional Plant, getting to the lower level of a natural gas plant amounts to a 50% reduction in emissions
Impact on electricity prices, increases cost by up to 50%...
If all these costs are passed on to consumers, and you pay 10 cents per kWhr your new bill is 15 cents.
Such higher prices begin to make Alternative sources of energy viable ... wind, solar, Biogas, etc (with Subsidies) start competing with conventional CO2 coal plants at these prices.
At these price rise, Energy Efficiency of power devices begins to get significant attention.
Example of Efficient devices: In a waste water treatment plant, the biggest energy bill is aeration, about 60% to 70% of the cost. For a bill of $100/- for the plant - $70 is the energy to aerate. Now the electricity price goes up 50%. And your bill is $150/- !!
Switching to efficient devices of Aeration like Parkson's HiOx fine bubble diffusers, is the easiest way to save money.
Energy not used = CO2 emissions not emitted = CO2 credits. These credits can be traded, once cap-and-trade is in place. Depending on which fuel is displaced, CO2 emitted is different. (Coal / Natural gas).
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Water, Waste & Energy
Today is my first blog, I have been reading about energy efficiency at the oil endgame website . you can download a free summary.
http://www.oilendgame.com/pdfs/WtOEg_ExecSummary.pdf
It's an interesting hypothesis that improvements in energy efficiency can eliminate a good deal of waste and once it's adopted on a massive scale, will cause demand of oil to weaken and therefore price.
In the area of water and waste water, about 70% of the electricity in a waste water plant is consumed in the aeration of waste water. Oxygenated waste is broken down by bacteria to eliminate organic matter in the waste water. Therefore getting even a 10% efficiency in the performance of aeration will result in significant savings of energy.
http://www.oilendgame.com/pdfs/WtOEg_ExecSummary.pdf
It's an interesting hypothesis that improvements in energy efficiency can eliminate a good deal of waste and once it's adopted on a massive scale, will cause demand of oil to weaken and therefore price.
In the area of water and waste water, about 70% of the electricity in a waste water plant is consumed in the aeration of waste water. Oxygenated waste is broken down by bacteria to eliminate organic matter in the waste water. Therefore getting even a 10% efficiency in the performance of aeration will result in significant savings of energy.
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