Download or read book Water Use Implications of California s Future Transportation Fuels written by Jacob Teter and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Agricultural Water Use Impacts of Biofuel Cultivation in the United States and of California s Future Transportation Fuels written by Jacob Everett Teter and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interdependencies between water and energy resources are emerging as one of the core concerns of resource management. Integrating a successful transition to low-carbon transportation technologies together with effective water resource management requires an understanding of regionally appropriate water-energy nexus impacts. This thesis seeks to further the understanding of the water use impacts of transport energy supply chains. In the first chapter, the development of a new model that can be used to estimate crop-water balances and irrigation water use across large geographic scopes is described. The model developed here, CropWatR, can be used to estimate annual and seasonal water flows between the soil, crops (or other non-forested landscapes), and the atmosphere at a daily time-step, and includes irrigation scheduling. It is made available on github and written in the R open-source language, which will be useful to other researchers in the future. In chapter two, the CropWatR model is applied to outputs of an integrated agriculture-energy-economic model designed to offer insights into the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fuel use, and economic impacts of biofuel production incentivized by selected policy instruments in the United States. The regional and national crop-water balances and potential trade-offs in water resource consumption and availability are compared across two biofuel policy scenarios, including the current federal legislation (the Renewable Fuels Standard), a hypothetical national extension of a policy similar to California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and a no-policy counterfactual. Regional hotspots are identified where policies promoting domestic biofuels production might lead to decreased water resource availability. The third chapter focuses on the water use of all major energy supply chains providing energy for transport demand in California. The water use for in- and out-of-state oil and natural gas production, biofuel feedstocks cultivation, and electricity generation were characterized based on primary data sources within the state, and literature on the water footprint of energy production and transformation. This inventory of current water use intensity is combined with an energy-economic optimization model that projects energy pathways under various climate and energy policies (including California's 2050 GHG reduction target, Renewable Portfolio Standards, and the LCFS, inter alia) to project the water use implications of scenarios given California's climate, energy, and water policy. Chapters two and three provide case studies illustrating a lesson has been increasingly recognized in the literature and among policy makers: that effective resource management requires an integrated approach to understand the potential tradeoffs. Policy designs using integrated approach can maximize the benefits and can minimize unintended consequences.

Download or read book Water Use Implications of California s Future Transportation Fuels written by Jacob Teter and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Life Cycle Water Impacts of U S Transportation Fuels written by Corinne Donahue Scown and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The connection between energy use and water scarcity is not well understood. The production of energy requires water and the supply of water requires energy. Water already plays a major role in stationary energy production; thermoelectric power generation is responsible for nearly half of total freshwater withdrawals in the United States. Current transportation fuels, which account for approximately one-third of U.S. energy consumption, are not nearly as reliant on freshwater given that petroleum fuel production makes up just a few percent of U.S. water use. If transportation were to become more reliant on water-intensive sectors such as power generation and agriculture, there would be major implications for water availability in the United States. As electricity and biofuels gain a larger share of the market, this is exactly the transition that is taking place. Inconsistent water use metrics, inappropriate impact allocation practices, limited system boundaries due to lack the necessary tools and data, and the failure to quantify water resource availability and greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts are common pitfalls of existing assessments of transportation energy-related water use. To fill the knowledge gaps, this dissertation proposes a comprehensive life-cycle framework for assessing the water withdrawals and consumption of current and near-future U.S. transportation fuels -- including gasoline, bio-based ethanol, and electricity. With this proposed framework for performing a life-cycle inventory and impact assessment, the following three questions are answered: 1. What is the life-cycle water footprint of current and near-future transportation fuel production in the United States? 2. How might U.S. transportation fuel production pathways impact freshwater availability in the future? 3. What is the greenhouse gas-intensity of the water required for transportation fuel production, and how do these emissions impact the overall transportation fuel greenhouse gas footprints? Understanding the impacts of water use on freshwater resources and GHG emissions requires knowledge of not only the fuel production pathways, but also how these pathways interact with other sectors in the economy. As new transportation fuels emerge, demand for some goods and services will increase while for others it will decrease, and each change has an effect on overall water demand. Quantifying the net system-wide impact of producing these new fuels is key to understanding the water implications of transportation energy-related policy decisions. Furthermore, by geospatially disaggregating predicted water requirements for transportation fuel production pathways at the U.S. county-level, locations within the United States can be identified as vulnerable to local surface and groundwater shortages. These shortages may result in high water prices and the need for energy-intensive water supply methods such as desalination, importation, or wastewater recycling. Identifying regions with vulnerable water resources allows decision makers in industry and the public sector to guide burgeoning transportation fuel markets in ways that maximize their contributions to energy independence and greenhouse gas emissions reductions while avoiding negative impacts on water availability. Results from the U.S. analysis show that indirect water use has a significant impact on total water use, particularly for withdrawals. In no other pathway is this as pronounced as it is for cellulosic ethanol production (in this case, corn stover and Miscanthus to ethanol). By using system expansion to account for the electricity generation displaced by cellulosic biorefineries' exports to the grid, total water consumption for those pathways drops considerably and total withdrawals actually becomes a net negative number. When the inventory is geospatially disaggregated and compared to drought and groundwater vulnerability data, the results show that biofuel production concentrated in the Midwest puts pressure on the already-overpumped High Plains Aquifer. Petroleum fuel production pathways result in water use concentrated in locations that are predicted to experience long-term drought, specifically California, Texas, and Wyoming. Electricity, in contrast, is more widely distributed throughout the U.S., but the high surface water consumption rates in the western half of the country may exacerbate future surface water shortages in those regions. Gaining a better knowledge of how the production and consumption of fuels impacts freshwater resources is absolutely critical as humans attempt to transition into a more sustainable energy future. By making contributions to the methodologies required to assess the environmental impacts of water use, as well as knowledge about the potential water impacts of current and near-future U.S. transportation fuels, this dissertation provides U.S. decision makers with information necessary to create the most economical and sustainable transportation energy future possible while also providing future researchers with the tools to answer questions that have yet to be asked.

Download or read book Energy Use in California Wholesale Water Operations written by Matthew Earl Bates and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis explores the effects of future water and social conditions on energy consumption in the major pumping and generation facilities of California's interconnected water-delivery system, with particular emphasis on the federally owned Central Valley Project, California-owned State Water Project, and the large locally owned systems in Southern California. Anticipated population growth, technological advancement, climatic changes, urban water conservation, and restrictions of through-Delta pumping will together affect the energy used for water operations and alter statewide water deliveries in complex ways that are often opposing and difficult to predict. Flow modeling with detailed statewide water models is necessary, and the CALVIN economic-engineering optimization model of California's interconnected water-delivery system is used to model eight future water-supply scenarios. Model results detail potential water-delivery patterns for the year 2050, but do not explicitly show the energy impacts of the modeled water operations. Energy analysis of flow results is accomplished with the UC Davis General Energy Post-Processor, a new tool for California water models that generalizes previous efforts at energy modeling and extends embedded-energy analysis to additional models and scenarios. Energy-intensity data come from existing energy post-processors for CalSim II and a recent embedded-energy-in-water study prepared by GEI Consultants and Navigant Consulting for the California Public Utilities Commission. Differences in energy consumption are assessed between modeled scenarios, and comparisons are made between data sources, with implications for future water and energy planning strategies and future modeling efforts. Results suggest that the effects of climate warming on water-delivery energy use could be relatively minimal, that the effects of a 50% reduction in Delta exports can be largely offset by 30% urban water conservation, and that a 30% conservation in urban water use can produce energy savings of over 40%, from the base case. Results also show that refining estimates of future Delta export and urban water conservation levels is necessary to increase confidence in energy-related planning and investment. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the compared energy-intensity data are highly interchangeable, and using data combined from multiple sources is preferable to include more facilities without skewing results.

Download or read book Managing California s Water written by Ellen Hanak and published by Public Policy Instit. of CA. This book was released on 2011 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming written by National Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-02-01 with total page 945 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global warming continues to gain importance on the international agenda and calls for action are heightening. Yet, there is still controversy over what must be done and what is needed to proceed. Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming describes the information necessary to make decisions about global warming resulting from atmospheric releases of radiatively active trace gases. The conclusions and recommendations include some unexpected results. The distinguished authoring committee provides specific advice for U.S. policy and addresses the need for an international response to potential greenhouse warming. It offers a realistic view of gaps in the scientific understanding of greenhouse warming and how much effort and expense might be required to produce definitive answers. The book presents methods for assessing options to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, offset emissions, and assist humans and unmanaged systems of plants and animals to adjust to the consequences of global warming.

Download or read book Health Impacts of Expanding Urban Recycled Water Use in California written by Sharona Yael Sokolow and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The overarching goal of the work described herein is to elucidate how expanding recycled water systems throughout California would impact human health and how we might lower barriers to the expanded use of recycled water in this region. We focused on three topics: (1) comparing the health impacts of expanded use of recycled water to other water conservation strategies in Southern California; (2) conducting a detailed case study on the financial costs, greenhouse gas emissions, energy and health of different water source scenarios for Long Beach Water District (LBWD); and (3) interviewing public health and water industry professionals to understand barriers to expanded use of recycled water in California. Based on our first study, we concluded that expansion of recycled water has the potential to yield greater net health benefits than other water conservation strategies in Southern California, when the full range of health impacts of water conservation strategies, including those related to energy use and human health, are taken into consideration. In our second study, we found that maximizing recycled water use in LBWD would lower energy and greenhouse gas emissions and be more cost effective than other water source options by as early as 2025. In our third study, we found that critical stakeholders perceive that the majority of the barriers that prevent expansion of recycled water use in Southern California fall into the following categories: regulatory restrictions, infrastructure costs, lack of funding, requirements for new technology, adverse health effects, and negative public perception of recycled water. Taken together, these studies provide clear insights into the advantages associated with expanding use of recycled water in Southern California, the gaps between perceived and real barriers to expanded use of recycled water, and how committed stakeholders--including those in the public health profession--can help ensure that water solutions that benefit our region's health are pursued going forward.

Download or read book Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis written by and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 794 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Planning Water Use in California written by William Alan Eisenstein and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book California s Water Footprint written by Julian Fulton and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation presents three studies on California's water footprint, which is defined as the amount of water required to produce everyday goods and services demanded by California consumers on a yearly basis. Such a consumption-based indicator of water use is novel, and I introduce water footprint science as an expanded reading of water that adds value to conventional approaches to understanding society's relationship with water resources. California, as a water-limited state, presents a useful case study for examining how demands on water resources have shifted within and outside of the region through its water footprint. The Introduction section discusses the history of water use in California from a conventional perspective as well as what water footprint assessment, as an evolving science, might offer in terms of an expanded reading of water for sustainability decision making. The first study (Chapter 2) shows that scaling water footprint assessment to the state level both illuminates California's unique arrangement with respect to internal and external water resources and provides a basis for policy consideration at a relevant decision-making level. The second study (Chapter 3) focuses on the water footprint of California's energy system in order to show how environmental policymaking, particularly climate mitigation policies in the energy sector, can result in maladaptation with respect to water systems and that water footprint assessment provides a useful tool for avoiding redistribution of water impacts. The third study (Chapter 4) presents a time-series of California's overall water footprint, indicating an externalization of water footprint demands in recent decades and a decreasing of dependence on internal water resources for instate consumption of everyday goods. The Conclusion section reflects on what water footprint assessment has thus far provided in terms of an expanded reading of water for California, and how that information might support sustainability decision making in various facets of governance. I identify shortcomings of the method and ways in which improvements can be made in the future, particularly through interdisciplinary research. Water footprint information offers important insights into California's recent development as well as tools for developing future sustainable transitions.

Download or read book Critical Technologies written by National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Critical Technologies: The Role of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Maintaining and Strengthening American Technology and published by National Academies. This book was released on 1992 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Selected Water Resources Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The California State Water Project Current Activities and Future Management Plans written by California. Department of Water Resources and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Essays on California s Water Economy written by Hilary Beth Soldati and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation consists of three essays that provide insights into the economics of water across different dimensions of the resource and its role in the state of California. The first essay examines the social welfare impacts of variation in irrigation supplies that are available through major public projects. Discussion of the value and significance of the irrigation services that are made available through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta often focus on the immediate impacts to agricultural production and direct farm jobs. This essay, however, considers the reach of these impacts by evaluating how agriculturally based communities are effected by shortages in irrigation supplies. The second and third essays shift attention toward urban water usage. Methods of forecasting urban water demand are reconsidered and a suggestion is made for an alternative approach to evaluating the predictive power of demand models in the second essay. Finally, the third essay measures the effect of consumption analytics and social norm messaging on household decision-making around water usage. Taken together, these three essays address some of the key features of California's water economy. While there exists much research that measures the impact of precipitation shocks on agricultural regions, whether in production or in other outcomes, less research is available that specifically focuses on the impacts of variation in developed irrigation supplies. Given that developing irrigation infrastructure is oft regarded as an adaptation strategy for climate change, it is worth understanding how shocks in the supply of managed water effect individual and regional outcomes. The first essay exploits exogenous variation in the availability of California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta irrigation water to estimate the impact on crime rates for the agricultural counties that use this input. This research provides suggestive evidence in support of the hypothesis that reductions in the availability of this irrigation supply lead to a socially and economically significant increase in both property and violent crime rates. Empirical results support the argument that farm jobs is the mostly likely mechanism, with suggestive evidence that demographic changes are also important. Urban water managers rely heavily on forecasts of water consumption to determine management decisions and investment choices. Typical forecasts rely on simple models whose criteria for selection has little to do with their performance in predicting out-of-sample consumption levels. This essay demonstrate this issue by comparing forecast models selected on the basis of their ability to perform well in-sample versus out-of-sample. Results highlight the benefits of developing out-of-sample evaluation criteria to ascertain model performance. Using annual data on single-family residential water consumption in Southern California, this research illustrates how prediction ability varies according to model evaluation method. Using a training dataset, this analysis finds that models ranking highly on in-sample performance significantly over-estimated consumption $(10\%-25\%)$ five years out from the end of the training dataset relative to observed demands five years out from the end of the training dataset. Whereas, the top models selected using the out-of-sample criteria came within 1\% of the actual total consumption. Notably, projections of future demand for the in-sample models indicate increasing aggregate water consumption over a 25-year period, which contrasts the downward trend predicted by the out-of-sample models. The third essay estimates how household-level water consumption may be impacted by the distribution of Home Water Use Reports (HWURs) by Dropcountr (DC), a digital and web-based consumption analytics platform. Similar to Opower in the energy sector, DC offers social comparison, consumption analytics, and conservation information to residential accounts, primarily through digital communications. Having initiated relationships with several California utilities, as well as major Texas and Colorado providers, the effect of these programs may be measured and will contribute to three areas of academic literature: 1) the study of social norms and moral suasion on consumption behavior, in general; 2) the effects of such methods in the water sector, in specific; and 3) understanding alternatives to price mechanisms in demand-side management of water resources. This research discusses the potential of this type of information to generate measurable effects of interest, both to researchers and to water managers alike. Particular focus will be given to results with a mid-sized California utility and a major Texas provider. Early results indicate an economically and statistically significant $5-8\%$ and $3-4\%$ reduction in average monthly household water consumption for the California and the Texas utility, respectively, for the typical household under treatment of the DC program.

Download or read book Congressional Record written by United States. Congress and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

Download or read book Transportation Energy Conservation Data Book written by and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: