Water is one of the most visible signs of climate change, whether it istoo much或者不够. But until recently, it mostly was seen as primarily a climate adaptation and resilience concern. The fact is, however, that water also can play a powerful role in climate mitigation. During the recentCOP26 climate negotiations， 水as a mitigation toolreceived more attention than it had at previous talks. As the world looks to find emissions reductions wherever it can, the water sector has a host of technologies to help.

水与气候变化

全球供水系统对气候变化的真正影响通常被隐藏起来，因为它来自抽水，处理和加热水所需的能量。此外，在恶性循环中 - 鉴于化石燃料和核动力发电也使用copious amounts的water, if they are the main source of energy — the locality in question is effectively using water to treat water.

Further, in the U.S. water infrastructure isbuckling with age and stress, leading to leaks that amount to water (and energy) flushed away — not to mention the loss of revenue and increased operational costs for local utilities, as well as unnecessary carbon emissions.

The role of water and wastewater utilities

Water and wastewater utilities have been aware of the problem for a long time, but many of these utilities, which often are municipally owned and/or operating on razor-thin budgets, have been unable to do much about it. Instead, they have had to focus on plugging leaks (literally) rather than instituting innovative solutions. With more attention and support from the larger climate community, however, utilities are finding available technologies and strategies to design sustainability and resilience into their operations.

Discussions around climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience are now at the forefront in a way they were not a decade ago, Jim Schlaman, Director of Planning and Water Resources for Black & Veatch’s Government and Environmental business, told TriplePundit. “It has been interesting to hear the change in tone toward more ESG (environmental, social and governance) goals and metrics.”

“There’s discussion among many water utility leaders to have water utilities sign up for net zero goals, for example,” he added. “Five years ago, you'd rarely hear it mentioned, but now, utilities are talking about implementing strategies to reduce carbon emissions, plan and implement infrastructure more sustainably, and drive resilience into all of their practices. We’re on the precipice of seeing utilities change how they plan, implement, and operate infrastructure and their enterprises in more sustainable and resilient ways.”

Black＆Veatch环境服务部气候解决方案团队的成员JC Alonzo表示同意。188bet上不了他告诉我们：“您曾经不得不对人们进行锤击，只是为了让他们听取您的环境问题。”“水公用事业开始了解，他们的业务责任超越了通过管道移动水。”

What utilities can do

现在，对话已经从IF转变为如何Black & Veatch— a global consulting, engineering and construction firm — find themselves poised to advise water and wastewater utilities and authorities about the options.

One of the places to start is by having water authorities look beyond capital costs and plan for lifecycle costs. “A more sustainable project doesn’t mean more costly,” Schlaman said. “Typically, when people think that, it’s because they didn’t consider sustainable principles until the end of design. However, if you build sustainable thinking into your upfront capital planning efforts and incorporate it as part of your standard operating procedures, you can find opportunities to deliver higher value projects as they relate holistically to environmental, social, and financial aspects.” For example, a new project that Black & Veatch is developing with a client in Nevada deployed genetic algorithms and计算机优化during the planning stage to evaluate environmental and performance trade-offs, find good balance between capital and lifecycles costs, and improve the overall resilience of the system.

A key component to remember is that the landscape of water and wastewater utilities is vast, ranging from tiny municipal offices within a department to national corporations and everything in between. The larger ones often have good asset management programs, while the smaller ones may struggle to employ a person who also has several other areas of responsibility. The good news is that innovation runs downhill: When larger utilities invest in energy-saving water technologies at scale, it lowers the cost for the smaller ones. Information sharing also is critical.

Information-sharing lays the groundwork for energy-saving water technologies

Recognizing that water and energy systems are integrated is equally important, and not always top of mind, Schlaman said. “From a vulnerability perspective, our systems are more integrated than we thought they were, so we need coincident risk planning,” he told us. For example, the德克萨斯城圆形岩石, just north of Austin, spent money on backup generators and preparedness planning more than a decade ago, and they were the only utility in the Austin metropolitan area that did not have to issue a boil notice duringWinter Storm Uriin February 2021.

Schlaman补充说，公用事业通常在历史上考虑了洪水的影响，但现在更多地考虑了与功率，运输，网络和供应链系统有关的重合风险/脆弱性计划。例如，微电网部署的增加现在正在使用水和废水公用事业，以减少对集中式电网的依赖，更灵活地在破坏性事件中获得动力的灵活性，更大的财务灵活性以抵消峰值需求费用以及更大更大的整体效用弹性。

Being off the main grid and investing in reliability measures on a smaller scale can end up being a lifesaver in an extreme weather event. Black & Veatch also has noticed an uptick in the use of renewable energy by water utilities to generate their power, withsolarbeing a popular option. Since many water utilities rely on reservoirs, technologies such asfloating solar可以降低蒸发率并提高面板本身的效率。尤其是废水植物为沼气恢复during wastewater treatment, which then can be used to power the plant’s operations or sold back to the grid.

随着气候解决方案的需求增加，其他技术正在出现。In-pipe hydropower和micro-turbinesare passive energy systems that can run pump stations. Battery systems also increasingly are used to provide backup energy for pump stations so they no longer have to rely on diesel generators. The city of Portland, Oregon, hasused in-pipe unitssince 2015, saving enough energy to power several hundred homes.

Alonzo sees a parallel with the consumer tech industry as technologies continue to get smaller and less expensive, which is a good thing for resource-strapped utilities. And Schlaman added that the megatrend in the industry is a shift toward digitization. Now that utilities are improving their data collection, they are better equipped for data optimization and the deployment of water smart grids.

计划未来

None of this technology deployment is possible without effective planning. Utilities in cities such asKansas City和Tampa— both on thefront lines的climate change— are figuring out new ways to approach water planning, including clear delineation of roles and responsibilities and extensive scenario planning built into their master plans, Schlaman said. “There’s a big push toward dynamic master planning,” he said. “We generate digital tools with cash-flow models so utilities can perform adaptive capital planning and prioritization as needed. We can leverage modern computing power and genetic algorithms to test thousands of potential scenarios, evaluate multiple and uncertain futures, and develop strategies to improve the utility’s resilience and reliability.”

Another tool being used more often in the industry is theEnvision Infrastructure评分系统是一种指导工具，可将计划人员通过项目相对于三重底线的潜在影响，研究环境和社会问题。Alonzo补充说，公司开始使用设想来指导和验证其项目的可持续性，就像Leed所做的那样。金博宝怎么注册

All in all, the fact that the water sector is being brought in as an integral partner in climate change solutions means it is easier to share information and communication, Schlaman concluded. “There is a lot of overlap with the [U.N. Sustainable Development Goals], entire training courses on how to achieve SDGs. It’s comprehensive without being prescriptive, and a lot of utilities are adopting these strategies to help plan and implement a more sustainable and resilient future.” Different sectors that are inextricably linked and historically siloed now are speaking the same language, making solutions more effective and efficient — and closer in reach than we may have thought.

本文系列由Black＆Veatch赞助，由​​TriplePundit编辑团队制作。

Image courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory viaFlickr.