Archive for September, 2013

Frackers Guzzle Water as Texas Goes Thirsty

Via Time, a report on fracking and the tension between water demands: In summer, the bison on Thunderheart Ranch opt for the feathery shade of a mesquite tree as temperatures reach 100. This land, just a handful of miles from the Mexican border, was once known as The Wild Horse Desert, lawless, rough brush country […]

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Never-Released Energy Department Report Predicts Increasing Domestic Conflicts over Water, Energy

Via Standard Energy Supply Company, an article on an unreleased Energy Department report focused on watergy: Fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry and people thirsty Last summer, the United States experienced the worst drought since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. At the same time, the country was […]

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Not Just Hydropower: Energy Needs Water And Water Needs Energy, Report Finds

Via ClimateProgress, an article on the watergy nexus: Everybody knows that water and electricity don’t mix in the bathtub. But it turns out that in most other realms of modern life — driving, watching television, preparing dinner — they are inextricably linked. It takes water to generate energy, and energy to move water. The extent […]

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The Nuts And Bolts — Or Rather Watts and Volts — Of The Energy-Water Lingo

Via EDF’s Energy Exchange blog, some helpful clarification on water and energy terms: In recent posts I’ve discussed the need for energy and water planners to co-manage resources more comprehensively. But another significant barrier exists: language. Water and energy planners use different terminology and a lack of understanding for these distinctions hampers true coordination. Also, […]

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China’s Energy Industry Water Use to Double By 2035

Courtesy IndustryTap, a look at China’s engery industry water use: IndustryTap has covered the world’s looming water shortage problem usually considering its deleterious effects on humans. We have looked at desalination, “mining” icebergs, and more. But water shortages also affect critical infrastructure and systems humans depend on, such as coal plants that require vast amounts […]

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Local Energy-Water Solutions Could Be A Model For The Nation

Via EDF’s Energy Exchange blog, an article on the power of local watergy solutions: Over the past several weeks, I’ve written a lot about the intimate and inextricable connection between energy and water. The energy-water nexus involves a number of technologies, environmental factors and stakeholders. Thus, it’s no surprise that water and energy’s fundamental connection has eluded […]

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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.”