Water, Energy And Sustainable DevelopmentIn The 21st Century

Abstract

The consequences and impacts of the energy crisis and climate change as they relate to water resources are analyzed. The energy crisis scenario originates from the forecast that the world production of oil and natural gas will reach its maximum in less than a decade and will subsequently decline until they are fi nally exhausted during the present century. This will involve a decrease in the quantity of energy per capita (accentuated by the trend of global population growth), as well as progressively more expensive fuel prices, raw materials and manufactured goods. The economic, social and environmental consequences of this phenomenon will be of great magnitude, and this present chapter is a qualitative analysis that focuses on the management of water resources in this context. The convenience of analyzing different scenarios of energy scarcity and climate change in order to properly assess the impacts on water resources is suggested. The present analysis of the impacts on water resources considers the following aspects: impacts on irrigation and agricultural production, impacts on regulated water resources and on the production of biofuels, hydropower, and nuclear energy, and impacts on coastal and deltaic systems. It is concluded that the combined effects of climate change and the shortage of energy will lead to an unsustainable scenario of increasing pressure on water resources and aquatic ecosystems, with an associated decline in food production and energy production per capita, which will threaten human welfare in many regions of the world. The present analysis is possibly the fi rst one addressing the combined impacts and feedbacks between energy, climate change and water resources in a comprehensive way.