The water impacts of climate change mitigation measures
Article
Article Title | The water impacts of climate change mitigation measures |
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ERA Journal ID | 1965 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Wallis, Philip J. (Author), Ward, Michael B. (Author), Pittock, Jamie (Author), Hussey, Karen (Author), Bamsey, Howard (Author), Denis, Amandine (Author), Kenway, Steven J. (Author), King, Carey W. (Author), Mushtaq, Shahbaz (Author), Retamal, Monique L. (Author) and Spies, Brian R. (Author) |
Journal Title | Climatic Change: an interdisciplinary, international journal devoted to the description, causes and implications of climatic change |
Journal Citation | 125 (2), pp. 209-220 |
Number of Pages | 12 |
Year | 2014 |
Publisher | Springer |
Place of Publication | Dordrecht, Netherlands |
ISSN | 0165-0009 |
1573-1480 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1156-6 |
Web Address (URL) | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1156-6 |
Abstract | A variety of proposed activities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions will impact on scarce water resources, which are coming under increasing pressure in many countries due to population growth and shifting weather patterns. However, the integrated analysis of water and carbon impacts has been given limited attention in greenhouse mitigation planning. In this Australian case study, we analyse a suite of 74 mitigation measures ranked as highest priority by one influential analysis, and we find that they have highly variable consequences for water quantity. We find: (1) The largest impacts result from land-based sequestration, which has the potential to intercept large quantities of water and reduce catchment yields, estimated to exceed 100 Mm3/MtCO2-e of carbon mitigated (100,000 l per tonne CO2-e). (2) Moderate impacts result from some renewable power options, including solar thermal power with a water cost estimated at nearly 4 Mm3/MtCO2-e. However, the water impacts of solar thermal power facilities could be reduced by designing them to use existing power-related water supplies or to use air or salt-water cooling. (3) Wind power, biogas, solar photovoltaics, energy efficiency and operational improvements to existing power sources can reduce water demand through offsetting the water used to cool thermal power generation, with minor savings estimated at 2 Mm3/MtCO2-e and amounting to nearly 100 Mm3 of water saved in Australia per annum in 2020. This integrated analysis significantly changes the attractiveness of some mitigation options, compared to the case where water impacts are not considered. |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 370201. Climate change processes |
400513. Water resources engineering | |
410102. Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation | |
Public Notes | © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Permanent restricted access to published version due to publisher copyright policy. |
Byline Affiliations | Monash University |
Australian National University | |
Climate Works Australia | |
University of Queensland | |
University of Texas at Austin, United States | |
International Centre for Applied Climate Science | |
University of Technology Sydney | |
Independent Consultant, Australia | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q2wzz/the-water-impacts-of-climate-change-mitigation-measures
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