Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

The Water-Energy Nexus in the Indian Ocean Region

Via Future Directions International, a report on the water-energy nexus in the Indian Ocean region: Key Points Water is essential to energy production processes in both the mining of raw materials and in power generation. Energy is required for the extraction, purification, distribution, utilisation and disposal of water. The risks posed by the water-energy nexus […]

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Coal: The Great Water Grab

Via China Water Risk, an interesting look at the water tension between global coal power plants and use of water for agriculture, industry, and cities: Highlights The 84% of global water consumption by the coal industry is from coal power plants, mostly from the cooling of power plants, hard coal and lignite mining is responsible for […]

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Zambia’s Watergy Crisis

Courtesy of the New York Times, a detailed look at the watergy crisis currently being faced in Zambia where severe drought magnified by climate change has cut water levels on Lake Kariba, creating electricity shortages.: Even as drought and the effects of climate change grew visible across this land, the Kariba Dam was always a steady, and […]

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Solving The Twin Crises of Energy And Water Scarcity

Via Harvard Business Review, a look at the watergy nexus from a corporate value chain perspective: Few people realize the important role water plays in our daily energy use, or the energy required to heat, treat, and supply water. Powering one 60-watt bulb for 12 hours a day over the course of a year can […]

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Coal: #1 Threat To Global Water Supplies

Via Third Pole, commentary on a recent report outlining how coal use is the number one threat to water supplies: The burning of coal isn’t just cooking the planet through climate change, the fossil fuel is using large amounts of water in parts of the world where supplies of the most precious of natural resources are […]

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How Energy-Water Data Can Help Cities Conserve Both

Via the Environmental Defense Fund, a report on how energy-water data can help cities conserve both: Today is World Water Day, an international observance of water’s importance. This year’s theme is “Water and Jobs,” bringing awareness to the fact that nearly half of all workers on Earth (about 1.5 billion people) work in water-related jobs, and virtually […]

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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.”