Innovative Technology Solutions for Sustainability
January 2015
Abengoa
Sustainable development challenges
2015 UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference
Increasing water
demand
Uneven population
distribution Climate change
Rapidly growing
cities
Higher costs for water
Regulatory caps for water use
Conflicts with large-scale water users
Growing demand for water efficient tech
Impacts of increasing water demand
Scarcity
Source: PwC.- Water Challenges: Drivers and solutions
Increasing water
demand
Uneven population
distribution Climate change
Rapidly growing
cities
Source: World Resources Institute Aqueduct. Gassert et al. 2013
Scarcity
Increasing water
demand
Uneven population
distribution Climate change
Rapidly growing
cities
Scarcity
Freshwater resources are vulnerable to climate change:
increasing atmospheric water vapour content;
changing precipitation patterns, intensity and extremes;
reduced snow cover and widespread melting of ice; changes in soil moisture and runoff.
Increasing water
demand
Uneven population
distribution Climate change
Rapidly growing
cities
Source: Growing Blue. 2014
Scarcity
Over exploitation of underground water
Water withdrawal = Water recharge
There is a limit to the amount of water we can sustainably
use and today many water withdrawals are not sustainable.
Roughly 15 to 35 percent of irrigation withdrawals are estimated
to be unsustainable
Quality
Pesticides, fertilizers and chemicals in agriculture
Emerging contaminants
Human pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicines,
nanomaterials, personal care products, paints and
coatings.
Quality
Water-energy interdependence Industry development
Source: World Bank. Thirsty energy initiative. Source: World Bank. Thirsty energy initiative.
Sustainability
Critical due to the high water needs and the difficulty of wastewater treatment Power, oil&gas, mining, refining industries
Effluents management
Source: Growing Blue. 2014
Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene are estimated to cause approximately 3.1 percent of all deaths each year.
Sustainability
How to focus solutions
Enhance efficiency Integrate energy-water planning
Reduce water dependency
• Use alternate cooling
systems (e.g. in
thermal power
plants);
• Implement renewable
energy technologies;
• Recycle and reuse
water from
operations;
• Explore brackish and saline water options.
• Increase the
economic value of
water;
• Replace old,
inefficient industrial
facilities;
• Improve power plant
efficiency;
• Improve biofuels
production efficiency.
• Conserve water and
energy;
• Incorporate water
constrains into
industrial and energy
planning;
• Strengthen joint
energy-water
governance and
encourage political
reform;
• Integrate energy-
water infrastructure
Our solutions
Conventional and advanced seawater and brakish
water reverse osmosis processes for producing
drinking water and process water.
Desalination Water treatment
Conventional and advanced water treatment
processes for drinking water.
Wastewater treatment & reuse
Development of technologies for the treatment of
urban and industrial water with a quality of reuse.
Smart management based on ICT solutions
Membranes
Development of our own technology on filtering
systems with membranes.
RE-desalination
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