The carbon footprint of water management policy options

Authors

Eleeja Shrestha, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Sajjad Ahmad, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Walter Johnson, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Jacimaria R. Batista, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2012

Publication Title

Energy Policy

Volume

42

First page number:

201

Last page number:

212

Abstract

The growing concerns of global warming and climate change have forced water providers to scrutinize the energy for water production and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with it. A system dynamics model is developed to estimate the energy requirements to move water from the water source to the distribution laterals of the Las Vegas Valley and to analyze the carbon footprint associated with it. The results show that at present nearly 0.85 million megawatt hours per year (MWh/y) energy is required for conveyance of water in distribution laterals of the Valley from Lake Mead resulting in approximately 0.53 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year. Considering the current mix of fuel source, the energy and CO₂ emissions will increase to 1.34 million MWh/y and 0.84 million metric tons per year, respectively, by the year 2035. Various scenarios including change in population growth rate, water conservation, increase in water reuse, change in the Lake level, change in fuel sources, change in emission rates, and combination of multiple scenarios are analyzed to study their impact on energy requirements and associated CO₂ emissions.

Keywords

Carbon dioxide; Carbon footprint; Climatic changes; Global warming; Greenhouse gases; Nevada – Las Vegas Valley; System dynamics; Water conveyance; Water transfer — Energy consumption; Water-supply – Management

Disciplines

Environmental Engineering | Environmental Sciences | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Water Resource Management

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

Publisher Citation

Eleeja Shrestha, Sajjad Ahmad, Walter Johnson, Jacimaria R. Batista, The carbon footprint of water management policy options, Energy Policy, Volume 42, March 2012, Pages 201-212, ISSN 0301-4215, 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.11.074. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421511009724)

Repository Citation

Shrestha, E., Ahmad, S., Johnson, W., Batista, J. R. (2012). The carbon footprint of water management policy options. Energy Policy, 42 201-212.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.11.075