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Balancing clean water-climate change mitigation trade-offs

Authors :
Parkinson, Simon
Krey, Volker
Huppmann, Daniel
Kahil, Taher
McCollum, David
Fricko, Oliver
Byers, Edward
Gidden, Matthew J.
Mayor, Beatriz
Khan, Zarrar
Raptis, Catherine
Rao, Narasimha D.
Johnson, Nils
Wada, Yoshihide
Djilali, Ned
Riahi, Keywan
Publisher :
ETH Zurich

Abstract

Energy systems support technical solutions fulfilling the United Nations’Sustainable DevelopmentGoal for clean water and sanitation(SDG6), with implications for future energy demands andgreenhouse gas emissions. The energy sector is also a large consumer of water, making water efficiencytargets ingrained in SDG6 important constraints for long-term energy planning. Here, we apply aglobal integrated assessment model to quantify the cost and characteristics of infrastructure pathwaysbalancing SDG6 targets for water access, scarcity, treatment and efficiency with long-term energytransformations limiting climate warming to 1.5°C. Under a mid-range human developmentscenario, wefind that approximately 1 trillion USD2010 per year is required to close waterinfrastructure gaps and operate water systems consistent with achieving SDG6 goals by 2030. Adding a1.5°C climate policy constraint increases these costs by up to 8%. In the reverse direction, when theSDG6 targets are added on top of the 1.5°C policy constraint, the cost to transform and operate energysystems increases 2%–9% relative to a baseline 1.5°C scenario that does not achieve the SDG6 targetsby 2030. Cost increases in the SDG6 pathways are due to expanded use of energy-intensive watertreatment and costs associated with water conservation measures in power generation, municipal,manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Combined global spending(capital and operationalexpenditures)to 2030 on water, energy and land systems increases 92%–125% in the integratedSDG6-1.5°C scenarios relative to a baseline‘no policy’scenario. Evaluation of the multi-sectoralpolicies underscores the importance of water conservation and integrated water–energy planning foravoiding costs from interacting water, energy and climate goals.<br />Environmental Research Letters, 14 (1)<br />ISSN:1748-9326<br />ISSN:1748-9318

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
17489326 and 17489318
Database :
OpenAIRE
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........9837e9c939c4487e086c7573adfebf9c