Water and Energy - Draft Report of the GWRC Research ... - IWA

3 Research Strategy
3.1 Water and Energy: a roadmap to the future
As part of the global developments regarding the availability and cost of energy as well as the
mitigation and adaption measures needed to face climate change, the water and wastewater
industry is challenged to review its present way of operations. Optimisation of energy use and
limitation of linked GHG emissions are issues to be considered.
To address the above, the participants of the workshop formulated as a common goal and
ambition of the water and wastewater industry for the coming era:
An energy and carbon footprint neutral urban water cycle by 2030.
The year 2030 is chosen as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates
that year as critical (‘point of no return’) where 60% reduction of GHG emissions should be
achieved to limited a global temperature increase to less then 3 o C.
In achieving these objectives the water and wastewater industry will be able to realise substantial
cost savings (after manpower, energy is the highest cost item on the balance sheet of the
industry!), be less depended on availability and/or shortage of energy, and by minimising the
carbon footprint deliver a considerable contribution to the reduction of GHG emissions.
Moreover, with this challenging ambition the water and wastewater industry shows its leadership
on the road to a more sustainable society (‘green frontrunner’) and illustrates the proactive
attitude of the sector towards regulators.
As spin-off of these developments, the water and wastewater industry advertises itself as a
responsible but also eye-catching employer on the competitive market which supports to attract
and keep a talented and skilled workforce.
A three phase approach and related set of actions to be taken by the water and wastewater
industry is formulated to achieve this goal and ambition:
1. Implement the present State of the Art: picking the low hanging fruit;
2. Reduce of the energy consumption by 20%: optimisation and innovation;
3. Further reduction of the energy consumption with another 80%: a paradigm shift!
The key items of the approach are highlighted in the next paragraphs and possible supporting
actions and projects by the GWRC members are indicated. Figure 3 illustrates the impact of the
approach over time.
Step 1. Implement the present State of the Art – picking low hanging fruit
During the discussions all through the workshop it became crystal that a vast amount of
information, knowledge and practical know-how regarding the management of water and
wastewater infrastructure in a more cost-effective, energy efficient manner is available
somewhere in the global water community. Implementation of the current best practice in the
today’s operations would result in a first, easy to make step and a significant contribution to
GWRC Water & Energy - Draft report
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