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The United States uses more energy to capture, move, treat and prepare water than for lighting, a new University of Texas at Austin study found.

The finding, the study’s authors said Tuesday, could push public policy discussions about how we conserve energy beyond which light bulbs are the most efficient.

“Water conservation becomes a pathway to energy conservation,” said Michael E. Webber, associate professor of mechanical engineering at UT-Austin, who directed the project.

Webber said the study, published in the journal “Environmental Research Letters,” marked the first attempt to quantify energy consumption for water in the U.S.

Overall, the study found that electricity used for pumping, treating, heating and cooling water accounted for 12.6 percent of the nation’s energy use in 2010. The amount is equivalent to the annual energy usage of roughly 40 million Americans, the report concluded.

“This ends up being a big number,” Webber said. “It’s bigger than people expected.”
Kelly Twomey Sanders, one of the study’s authors, said the findings set a baseline at a time when Texas, California and other states are looking at more energy-intensive ways to deliver water, such as desalination plants and pipelines that bring water from remote river basins to more populated areas.

“Although these shifts are likely to have an appreciable impact on future energy demand, very little analysis has been done to quantify water-related energy use at the national level,” she said. “This analysis serves to fill that gap.”

The study was funded by The Woodlands-based Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation and the Energy Foundation.

Source: FuelFix.com

Energy policy fell in the middle of voters’ concerns for the coming presidential election, according to a poll released this week.

And despite the angst expressed on Twitter and other social media sites about the absence of climate change in the campaign for the Oval Office, environmental policy ranked last on a list of 10 issues.

Still, 67 percent of voters ranked environmental policies as important.

And 77 percent said they are interested in the candidates’ energy policies. Economic, budget and tax policies took the top three spots, followed by health care and foreign policy.

The results were taken from a Harris Poll survey of 2,562 adults in late September.

The survey didn’t ask which candidate respondents favored, but instead asked what issues they consider most important. It also tracked attitudes by age — older voters rated both energy and environmental policy as more important than younger voters did — and asked about perceived environmental risks for various forms of energy.

Nuclear energy and so-called “clean coal” were considered most harmful to the environment, while wind and solar energy were rated the least harmful.

Natural gas fell in the middle, with 60 percent of people saying natural gas is not harmful to the environment and 23 percent rating it as harmful. Eighteen percent said they weren’t sure.

“Even after the election is over, energy will remain an important subject for Americans because it is also central to so many other policies, especially economic, jobs and environmental policies,” Sarah Simmons, Harris Interactive vice president, said in a statement. “In addition, energy pricing has a significant impact on families — whether it is in the prices they pay at the pump or in the impact energy prices have on the ability of large or small businesses to increase the workforce.”

The survey also asked about attitudes toward hydraulic fracturing, and Simmons said the split results indicate that the public view of natural gas is still “evolving.”

In that, 32 percent said the risks of hydraulic fracturing, including damage to the environment, minor earthquakes and increased water usage, outweigh the benefits, including job creation, economic growth and a domestic energy supply. Thirty-one percent said the benefits outweigh the risks, and 38 percent said they weren’t sure.

Source: Environmental Leader.com

Some 42 percent of companies in 2012 – more than twice as many as in 2006 – say sustainability plays a key role in their business operations, according to a study by Siemens and McGraw-Hill Construction. In 2006, 18 percent of companies did so.

The 2012 Greening of Corporate America study is the third in a series by the two firms, initiated in 2006 to investigate corporate sustainability.

The latest study shows companies are institutionalizing sustainability into business policy and practice, Siemens and McGraw-Hill say. The percentage of firms viewing environmental initiatives as costs, or required based on legal obligations alone, fell from 33 percent in 2006 to 17 percent in 2012, according to the study.
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Source: Governing.com

Last week California became the second state (after Oregon) to launch a mandatory state-wide paint recycling program, reports the U-T San Diego. The program will make paint recycling more convenient for the public by opening up drop-off sites at retail locations across the state. The industry-created non-profit organization called PaintCare, will administer the program, which will be paid for through a recovery fee that is based on container size and is applied to the purchase price of paint. The program will be especially useful to local governments that already recycle paint through hazardous waste programs because it will pay for their recycling process. PaintCare will use the funds provided by the 35 cent to $1.60 fee to cover the costs of transportation and processing of the leftover paint. Rhode Island and Connecticut have also passed legislation to create similar programs, but are still in the planning stages. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of the 700 million gallons of paint sold each year in the U.S. can be recycled.

Source: Environmental Leader.com

The Clean Water Act has accomplished significant achievements since it was first passed by Congress in 1972. For four decades, the legislation has helped protect and conserve wetlands, streams, rivers, and other waterways across the nation.

Hunters and anglers have supported strong Clean Water Act protections, understanding that clean water and healthy wetlands and streams are essential to healthy fish and wildlife. Today, we celebrate the historic results of this legislation: healthier water to drink, cleaner streams, rivers, and lakes, and dramatically lower rates of natural wetland loss. The Clean Water Act has cleaned up millions of miles of streams, small and large. Families, communities, farmers, and businesses depend on clean, healthy waters for their health, jobs, and prosperity.

“The Clean Water Act is essential to keeping our drinking water safe; providing millions of acres of fish and wildlife habitat across the country; ensuring abundant clean water for irrigating crops; and bolstering the robust fishery, tourism, and outdoor recreation industries, “stated Jan Goldman-Carter, National Wildlife Federation’s senior manager, Wetlands and Water Resources. “Clean water is a public right and fundamental in protecting our livelihoods, wildlife, communities, and economy.”

As the Clean Water Act turns 40, America must get back on the path to clean, healthy waters and wetlands. The administration must follow through on its comprehensive efforts to restore Clean Water Act protections to wetlands, lakes, and streams in a science-based manner. The Clean Water Act will continue to strive to ensure drinkable, fishable, and swimmable waters across the nation.

Source: Environmental Leader.com

Thirty-nine percent of water executives say demand is “highly likely” to outstrip water supply by 2030, while 54 percent say such a risk is moderately likely, according to research released today by Oracle Utilities.

Water for All?, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, surveyed 244 senior water utility executives across 10 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

According to the report, 45 percent of water executives say “wasteful” consumer behavior is the biggest barrier to meeting future water demands. Another 33 percent say tariffs are too low to stimulate greater investment.

In developing countries, a lack of capital for investment tops the list (41 percent) of barriers, while worries over climate change stand third overall (34 percent).

Almost half of respondents (49 percent) say pricing structures need to be changed to encourage conservation, while 38 percent say water prices must be held down to ensure fair access.

Almost all (93 percent) water executives say they are increasing investment to meet supply challenges, with 22 percent increasing investment by 15 percent or more within the next three years.

The report credits technologies such as smart meters and desalination with making the water sector more innovative, and says one fifth of water utilities in developed markets regularly evaluate new technologies, compared to a third in developing countries. It says more water utilities must improve their ability to identify and implement such technologies — 36 percent remain unaware of innovation options available, according to Oracle.

Respondents say drought and increased water pollution are the biggest risks faced by water utilities, and are considered the most likely to occur.

Half of executives say they lack support and information from government bodies, and 43 percent say they must shift water management techniques based on future water availability.

Last month, the Coca-Cola Company partnered with Deka Research & Development Corporation on plans to deliver millions of liters of clean drinking water to schools, health clinics and community centers in rural regions of Africa and Latin America in 2013.

According to Ceres, 27 percent of companies made the connection between climate change and water risk in 2011, up from 10 percent in 2009.