Senior Analyst at Department of Energy Writes Water & Energy Article

Dr. Allan R. Hoffman, Senior Analyst at the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy, has written a short article about the water-energy nexus for the Clean Water America Alliance.

The article, called Water and Energy: Inseparable Issues, provides a good, albeit truncated overview of the water-energy nexus. Among Dr. Hoffman’s most perceptive observations is that developing and using water and energy resources needs to be viewed as a means to an end, not an end in and of itself:

Neither water nor energy, in absolute terms, are in short supply in the world. What is in short supply is water and energy that people can afford to buy.

Energy policy and water policy can also be expressed in similar terms. If one recognizes that energy is a means to an end and not an end in itself – i.e., energy is important only as it allows us to provide the services that are important to human welfare (heating, cooling, illumination, communication, etc.) - it follows that energy security rests on using the least amount of energy to provide a given service as well as access to technologies providing a diverse supply of reliable, affordable and environmentally benign energy sources. The first priority of energy policy must then be the wise, efficient use of whatever energy supplies are available. Exactly the same is true of water. Only after ensuring the wise, efficient use of existing resources must we focus on harvesting new energy and water supplies that meet sustainability requirements.

The bottom line is that water and energy issues are inextricably linked. No longer can U.S. and global water security be guaranteed without careful attention to related energy issues, and no longer can energy security be guaranteed without attention to related water issues. The linkage between the two is clear and must be explicitly recognized and acted upon.

Check out the full article: Water and Energy: Inseparable Issues](http://www.cleanwateramericaalliance.org/news_NewsWaves_2010_05.php#Energy)

Hat-tip to April Ingle from Georgia River Network.