PWL blog

What’s your “water footprint?”

Rich — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:17:21 +0000

See this site www.waterfootprint.org and estimate how much water you use compared to people in other countries - your “water footprint.”

Water crisis on cover of Scientific American

Rich — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:34:42 +0000

The cover of the August 2008 issue of Scientific American magazine says “Running Out of Water, a Six-Point Plan to Avert a Global Crisis,” and the cover story is “Facing the Freshwater Crisis” by Peter Rogers www.sciam.com/sciammag

3 barrels water for each barrel oil pumped!

Rich — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:29:50 +0000

From CD-adapco’s magazine Dynamics, issue 2.01, p. 41: “The largest single product of the global oil and gas industry is neither oil nor gas, but water: produced at a rate of approximately 3 barrels of water to every barrel of oil, in 1999 the oil and gas industry was responsible for extracting 77 billion barrels of water.” This water has to be separated from the oil and gas, cleaned, and reinjected or discharged. www.cd-adapco.com Also see post below “Water from Crude Oil?” on May 28, 2008 about recovery technology by Altela.

Spin it pure?

Rich — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:14:24 +0000

The Palo Alto Research Center has a device that purifies water by centripetal force, apparently. Link:

http://news.cnet.com/2300-1008_3-6236355-3.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

Pure Water by Sea?

Rich — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:57:53 +0000

The Water Standard Company http://www.csengin.org/ has developed a “seawater desalination vessel.” This is a ship that can anchor off shore and provide drinking water to residents on land in response to water supply emergencies. Reverse osmosis is used.

Water from Crude Oil?

Rich — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:36:34 +0000

A New Mexico startup company, Altela, is developing a method to recover pure water from crude oil, as discussed in the Green Tech blog at CNET News.
Link to the article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9954182-54.html.
Link to Altela: http://www.altelainc.com/.

Peak Water

Rich — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:44:03 +0000

Article about fresh water crisis around world. See especially section about Intel semiconductor fabs in Chandler, Arizona. Article by M. Power in May 2008 issue of Wired Magazine. www.Wired.com

Climate Change Escalating Severe Western Water Crisis

Rich — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:37:26 +0000

“A water crisis in the Western United States is primarily due to manmade global warming, and it could force difficult choices for the region as farmers, residents and biofuel producers fight for their share of water. Sixty percent of the changes in the West’s water cycle are due to increased atmospheric greenhouse gases, write scientists in a paper published Thursday in Science.” From article by A. Madrigal in January 2008 Wired Magazine online about study done by UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers, including Tim Barnett. Link to article in www.Wired.com

How much water to light a light bulb?

Rich — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:08:14 +0000

“it takes between 3,000 gallons and 6,000 gallons of water to power a 60-watt incandescent bulb for 12 hours a day over the course of a year. That statistic was published on Thursday by researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, who have studied how demand for a dwindling natural resource–fresh water–plays into energy.” See article by Martin LaMonica at
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9921125-54.html

World water crisis part of climate change

Rich — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:35:56 +0000

See this article “Experts seek answers on water footprint ” by A. Max, Associated Press, Thursday Mar 27, 2008. Excerpt: “The threat of climate change has drawn attention to carbon footprints, the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity. Now scientists have begun calculating a water footprint, the amount of water needed to produce goods or services. A report published this month by UNESCO-IHE, the Institute for Water Education in Delft, says it takes 70-400 times as much water to create energy from biofuels as it does from fossil fuels.” LINK TO ARTICLE