Water is a key component of the energy transition

Duncan Wood, CEO, Hurst International Consulting, writes on the World Economic Forum website arguing that embracing technologies that enable us to use water and energy more efficiently and intelligently can accelerate decarbonisation and work towards net zero.

Why water is vital to decarbonization and the energy transition

• Discussions around climate action tend to focus an renewables and carbon emissions, but water is also a key component of the energy transition.
• Water-efficient technologies could save vast amounts of water globally each year, cutting the energy and carbon required to pump, heat, treat and move it.
• Embracing technologies that enable us use water and energy more efficiently and intelligently can accelerate decarbonization and work towards net zero.

The global conversation on climate action frequently revolves around gigawatts of renewable energy and gigatons of avoided carbon emissions. But there is a third metric – one rarely discussed, yet just as consequential: gigalitres of water.

Water is the hidden currency of the energy transition, embedded in every kilowatt generated, every battery produced and every data centre cooled.

The astonishing truth is that water-efficient technologies could save tens of billions of cubic metres of water globally each year, while simultaneously cutting the energy and carbon required to pump, heat, treat and move it.

Saving water a powerful way of accelerating decarbonization

In a world facing growing water scarcity, or what the United Nations University has called “water bankruptcy”, these gigalitres of water saved represent one of the most powerful pathways to accelerate decarbonization.

What we often forget is that water systems are energy systems, and energy systems are deeply dependent on water.

Every litre of water that moves through a pipe must be pumped, heated, treated or cooled. Every kilowatt generated in a power plant, every solar panel manufactured, every battery or semiconductor produced, relies on water at some stage of its life cycle.

This creates a powerful connection that is not always obvious: every unit of water saved contributes directly to energy savings, which in turn, reduce carbon emissions.

This relationship sits at the heart of the water-energy-food nexus. An Institute and Faculty of Actuaries report recently warned that failures across this nexus could shrink the global economy by up to half by the end of this century.

Water shortages can shut down power plants; energy insecurity can cripple food production; agricultural overuse can dry out entire regions; and water scarcity is becoming an increasing problem in some regions. These cascading risks highlight why understanding the water-energy-food nexus is essential.

How water-efficient technologies can accelerate decarbonization

Yet within these intertwined challenges lies one of the most overlooked opportunities of the energy transition: the potential of water-efficient technologies to accelerate decarbonization.

Consider agriculture, the sector that uses more water than any other. Farmers have long relied on traditional irrigation systems that lose enormous volumes to evaporation, drainage and runoff. But innovations such as drip irrigation, precision soil-water sensors and solar-powered pumps mean that farmers can apply only the water a crop needs, when it needs it.

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