Archive for July, 2023

Why Aren’t Solar Panels on California Canals More Widespread?

Via CBS, commentary on why aren’t solar panels on California canals more widespread: Back in 2015, California’s dry earth was crunching under a fourth year of drought. Then-Governor Jerry Brown ordered an unprecedented 25% reduction in home water use. Farmers, who use the most water, volunteered too to avoid deeper, mandatory cuts. Brown also set […]

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Atomic-Powered, Decentralized Desalination

Via AquatechTrade, a look at the potential of modular, decentralized nuclear powered desalination plants the future for water: According to the World Nuclear Association, nuclear energy is already being used for desalination, yet has the potential for much greater use. Following his fusion energy moonshot at the IDA World Congress in Sydney, Prof. Lienhard shares […]

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‘Giant Methane Factories’: Hydropower Has Long Been Touted as Clean Energy. But Is It?

Via Inside Climate News, a report on decades of research that now suggest that hydropower has a far greater climate impact than once thought: Mark Easter couldn’t help but feel disappointed when he learned about a new study from Stanford University, which drew connections between the ongoing drought in the American West and an increase […]

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Southern Africa’s Hydroelectric Sector

Courtesy of The Africa Report, an insightful graphical look at Southern Africa’s hydroelectric dams, state of play, and potential: In light of the power crisis in Southern Africa, Presidents Ramaphosa and Tshisekedi urged world leaders in Paris to invest in the Grand Inga Dam. “[…] Let us now put money on the table and collectively […]

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India’s Solar Canals: Good For Environment, But Not For Business

Via Mongabay, a report on India’s solar canals: A solar canal is a canal fitted with solar panels, increasing their efficiency, and reducing evaporation and land usage. Gujarat pioneered the concept of solar panels on canals about 11 years ago. But the progress it has made is slow compared to that of large solar parks. […]

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Climate Change Challenges Hydropower-Dependent Austria

Via Energy Daily, a look at how climate change is challenging hydropower-dependent Austria: High in the Austrian Alps, hundreds of construction workers toil in a huge underground project aimed at storing hydropower as climate change has reduced the country’s water-dependent electricity production.Austria draws more than 60 percent of its electricity output from the renewable energy […]

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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.”