World Bank Feature Story: Thirsty Energy: Water-Smart Energy Planning in South Africa

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World Bank Report: Modeling the Water-Energy Nexus : How Do Water Constraints Affect Energy Planning in South Africa? 

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ESMAP- World Bank Report: Special Feature SEAR: Energy Access and the Energy-Water Nexus

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Book: The Water, Food, Energy and Climate Nexus

Co-wrote chapter 13 “The Challenge of Climate Change in the Energy-Water Nexus”

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Sustainable Energy For All (SE4All) Global Tracking Framework

Co-wrote sub-chapter on Energy and Water for Chapter 6: Cross-Cutting Issues of Energy

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World Bank Livewire. “Thirsty Energy: Understanding the Linkages between Energy and Water”

Wrote a topic brief on the water and energy nexus focusing on electricity generation for Live Wire, the World Bank’s series of online knowledge notes on energy and extractives sector development issues. 

 Download brief here

United Nations World Water Development Report  (WWDR 2014) – UNESCO

Co-wrote chapter 5, Volume 1 of the United Nations World Water Development Report 2014.

In view of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, likely to include increased access to water and energy services, this fifth edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR 2014) seeks to inform decision-makers (inside and outside the water and energy domains), stakeholders and practitioners about the interlinkages, potential synergies and trade-offs, and to highlight the need for appropriate responses and regulatory frameworks that account for both water and energy priorities

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Thirsty Energy (working paper) – WORLD BANK

Co-wrote Thirsty Energy, the first publication of the Energy-Water initiative, introduces the energy-water nexus, examines the water requirements of power generation and outlines some potential technical and institutional solutions for improving the management of the nexus.

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Thermal Power Plant Cooling: Context and Engineering (Book) – ASME

Contributed to a chapter of the book: Chapter 3.2: System-Level Generic Mode of Thermal Cooling Systems.

This book focuses on engineering fundamentals of water use for cooling needs of thermoelectric, or steam cycle, power plants, along with environmental and economic contexts. It contributes important information to aid a broader discussion of integrated water and energy management by providing background, references, and context for water and energy stakeholders specifically on the topic of water for cooling thermal power plants. This book serves as a reference and source of information to power plant owner/operators, water resource managers, energy and environmental regulators, and non-governmental organizations.

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Overarching Conclusions of 2013 World Water Week (WWW): Water Cooperation – Building Partnerships

I was a Lead Rapporteur for the 2013 WWW, coordinating  team of 5 young rapporteurs. I presented the key messages during the closing plenary session and co-wrote the main conclusions on “Cooperation to Achieve Equity by Balancing Competing Demands ” in the WWW 2013 Overarching Conclusions Report 

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World Water Week 2013 Report. Cooperation for a Water Wise World. Stockholm International Water Institute

Co-authored the Chapter: Thirsty Energy: Water for Power Generation – It’s not Only Hydropower

This report was prepared as input to the 2013 World Water Week and its special focus on Water Cooperation – Building Partnerships

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A simple model to help understand water use in thermal power plants (working paper) – MIT

The interdependency between water and energy, sometimes called the water-energy nexus, is growing in importance as demand for both water and energy increases. In the US, thermal power plants make up 70% of the existing fleet. These plants require large quantities of water, primarily for cooling, and account for 40% of the total fresh water withdrawals every year. A report from the US Department of Energy identified a total of 347 coal-fired power plants (from an analysis set of 580 plants) as vulnerable to water demand and/or water supply concerns. Therefore, it is important to understand the water footprint of the different electricity generation technologies. Unfortunately, the primary source of data is from direct surveys of power plant operators, which are often unreliable and incomplete. In order to better understand the water footprint of thermal power plants, this paper presents a simple, generic model to predict their water usage.

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Water footprint of electric power generation : modeling its use and analyzing options for a water-scarce future – MIT

M.S. Thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division. Technology and Policy Program.

This thesis offers a new framework to estimate the water use in power plants using a simple, generic model and focusing on the heat balance of the power plant. The model is used as a common analytical framework to evaluate the water requirements of different types of electricity generating power plants. The model is also used to identify the main drivers on water use in power plants and to explore the possible alternatives to mitigate water use by the power sector in the future. Since regulations and not price signals are usually the drivers of water-related power plant decisions, the presented model will also be very useful in policy analysis and policy decision making processes.

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