Activity 3(a) Work Package 4
Water, Energy, Climate Interactions: Identifying Issues and Assessing Response Capacity at the State Level

Background

Water, energy, and climate are inextricably linked. It takes energy to extract, treat, distribute, use, reuse, and dispose of water and wastewater. The various steps involved in the energy production and utilization chain -- whether it is thermal, nuclear, hydropower, tidal, or biomass – involves the consumption of water. Climate change also affects the water and energy demand and supply in the country, further widening the existing supply-demand gap in both sectors. This study explores these inter-linkages among water, energy, and climate change for four distinct sectors -- agriculture, industry, energy production, and domestic supply.

Objectives

The study has the following three objectives:

• To assess existing and future water-energy demand, climate change impact, and institutional adaptive capacity in agriculture, industrial, domestic water supply, and energy production in four states in India.
• To estimate water and energy footprints in agriculture, industry, domestic water supply, and energy production and to develop adaptive management guidelines for improving water and energy use efficiency.
• To analyze the costs and benefits of alternative policies that local/state/national government could initiate for improving the resilience and adaptive capacity in selected sectors.

Expected Outcomes

• The research will provide an understanding about the existing scenarios of water-energy production and utilization.
• Energy Footprints for water consumption/supply/ management in various sectoral activities; and water footprints for energy production activities
• The project will also result into the development of a water-energy efficiency index.
• A policy and governance framework for integrated management of water, energy and climate change will be developed through the outcomes of this project.