Archive for September, 2021

U.S. Hydropower Generation To Decline 14% In 2021 Amid Drought

Via Renewable Energy World, a report on a forecast decrease in US hydropower generation: In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that electricity generation from U.S. hydropower plants will be 14% lower in 2021 than it was in 2020. This is a result of “extreme and exceptional” drought conditions […]

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The American West Is Running Out of Water—and Big Oil Can Help Fix It

Via Fast Company, commentary on the potential to repurpose our oil and gas infrastructure to do something good for the planet: transport water to the parched West: We will eventually stop burning fossil fuels. The question isn’t if oil and gas fades from the picture, but whether it can happen quickly enough to stave off environmental […]

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Hydropower-Rich Laos Pushes Into Crypto

Courtesy of The Financial Times, an interesting article on Laos’ use of its watergy advantage to build a new industry: Laos has authorised the mining and trading of cryptocurrencies, in a policy shift by the debt-laden south-east Asian nation that positions it to profit from the crackdown on digital currency mining in China. Analysts said […]

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Renewable Energy for Water–Energy Nexus in Euphrates and Tigris River Basin

Via Springer, an interesting abstract for a paper examining the watergy nexus in the Euphrates and Tigris River basin: Understanding the interdependency of energy and water and the influencing factors as well as how this interrelation impacts the other essential sectors for the riparian states in the Euphrates and Tigris river basin. A literature review […]

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Brazil: Energy Crisis Deepens Amid Ongoing Drought

Via STRATFOR (subscription required), a quick summary of Brazil’s watergy crisis: What Happened: Brazil’s energy crisis is worse than previously thought amid particularly low rainfall that has significantly reduced hydropower generation, according to the country’s energy minister Bento Albuquerque, Folha de Sao Paulo reported Aug. 31. Federal agencies in Brazil have been directed to cut overall […]

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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.”