Archive for March, 2013

China’s Utilities In Hot Water As Coal Plants Squeeze Water Supplies

Courtesy of GigaOm, a report on China’s watergy crisis: There’s a looming water crisis coming for China’s water-hungry coal plants, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Roughly sixty percent of China’s power plants (most of them running on coal) are located in Northern China, but only 20 percent of the country’s […]

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2013: Year Of The Watergy Nexus?

Via Greentech Media, a report on the increasing recognition of the watergy challenge: Water and energy production have always been inextricably linked, but the amount of water needed to power our lives is increasing, according to the latest forecast from the International Energy Agency. The role of water in energy, often referred to as the […]

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Central Asian Water Tensions: Solving Tajikistan’s Energy Crisis

Courtesy of the Carnegie Endowment, a detailed look at the Central Asian water crisis and the linchpin Tajik energy crisis: In early November 2012, the government of Tajikistan announced that its national budget for 2013 would include 1.2 billion Tajik somoni (over $251 million) for the construction of the controversial Rogun Dam on the Vakhsh […]

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As Fracking Increases, So Do Fears About Water Supply

Via The New York Times, a report on concerns over fracking’s impact on water supplies in Texas: Hugh Fitzsimons, a bison rancher in Carrizo Springs, at the old windmill that produces two gallons of water a minute to supply his animals. CARRIZO SPRINGS, Tex. — In this South Texas stretch of mesquite trees and cactus, […]

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How Much Water Do Power Plants Use?

Via the Environmental Research Web, an interesting report on the watergy consumption of power plants: US power plants – in particular their cooling systems – are responsible for more than 40% of the nation’s freshwater consumption. However estimates of how much water is used at individual power plants can vary greatly. What is more, most […]

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Water: The Big Issue For Fracking

Via the Christian Science Monitor, an article on the watergy implications of fracking: On February 13, the Cleveland office of the law firm McDonald Hopkins hosted a panel to discuss the pivotal water issues facing producers of oil/gas from shale via fracking.  In addition to three MH attorneys, the panel also included Jeff Dick (Director […]

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About This Blog And Its Author
As the scarcity of water and energy continues to grow, the linkage between these two critical resources will become more defined and even more acute in the months ahead.  This blog is committed to analyzing and referencing articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between water and energy -- The Watergy Nexus -- and will endeavor to provide a central clearinghouse for insightful articles and comments for all to consider.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy.  Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation.  He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”