Water Energy Nexus in Urban Water Resources Allocation: A Case Study of Jinan City

Abstract

The water energy nexus– energy used for water – has received increasing attention in a changing world. With rapidly growing population and economic growth in urban areas, the demand of energy and water resources may subsequently rise. Since supply different water resources (such as transferred water and reclaimed water) requires different amount of energy, the city should perform a quantitative assessment of water energy nexus, and work out how to allocate various water resources to reduce urban energy consumption. Taking Jinan city as an example, this paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using various types of water resources, predictions of the future trends in water use, and estimates unit electricity requirements for the supply of fresh water and the treatment of wastewater, and briefly depict the water energy nexus in the urban water resources allocation, and try to find a water resource - energy balance for the urban water allocation. This work would help to explore the water energy nexus for urban water resources management, and to optimize the allocation of water resources.