The Regional Energy & Water Supply Scenarios (REWSS) model, Part I: Framework, procedure, and validation

Abstract

Water and energy are regionally dependent resources that generate significant environmental impacts. There is a growing body of environmental life-cycle impact data related to energy production and water use, and more cities and states are monitoring local conditions or developing future scenarios to assist in planning. This work presents a model that integrates datasets to calculate annual environmental impacts for a given region under varying future scenarios. The model treats energy and water with the same life-cycle framework and incorporates their interdependencies. Uncertainty and variability are included in results through the use of Monte-Carlo methods. Validation is presented here using greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2010 for the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Arizona.The REWSS model is publicly available, expandable for new sources or regions, and designed for state-scale questions about changes in impacts from use or removal of specific sources, or the changes in sources necessary to achieve specific changes in impacts. REWSS combines existing data in a novel way to allow the quantitative assessment of policy questions around environmental sustainability.