Energy and Water:Challenges and Opportunities

John MersonSenior Manager

February 17, 2011

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated and managed by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract

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Water Challenge – The combination of population growth and climatic variability are leading to major competition and conflict over freshwater availability, both in the United States and multiple strategic world regions.

Energy Challenge – Energy and water are increasingly interdependent because electric power generation requires very large quantities of water; future power demands for supplying society’s water needs will grow substantially.

Science Opportunity – The Nation’s challenges at the nexus of energy and water require new discoveries and advances in our scientific understanding and tools. These include new membranes and separation processes, interaction of surfaces and frictionless materials, advanced simulation and prediction of regional water availability and demands, revolutionary process measurement and monitoring methods, and science-based management of integrated energy-water systems.

Essence of the Energy~Water Nexus

Energy~Water Nexus Initiative - Meeting Challenges to Energy and Water Security

Created by NETL, LANL, SNL in August 2001• Held topical workshops in Denver (June

2002)and Pittsburgh (July 2002) Expanded to include 12 National Labs

• LERDWG February 2003 : EWN Team formed (11 Labs)

• SRNL involved starting August 2005 Problem Definition, Planning

• 2003-Present: Team-generated strategy, white papers, presentation materials, website

Outreach:• DOE:2004 – Present

– Issues, Challenges and Recommendations Presentation to Program and Staff Offices (EERE, EM,FE, NE, SC, PO, OETD)

– Ongoing briefings re: EWN status, issues • Others: 2004 - Present

– Invited participation in Congressional briefings, press events supporting National Water Supply Technology Legislation

– Presentations, Posters at Professional/Scientific Conferences (e.g., SSWR, ASME, NAS….)

Representation from all DOE Multi-Program Laboratories

Energy~Water NexusTeam

The Energy-Water Nexus Team Has Helped To Highlight The Interdependency of Energy and Water

1. Integrated regional energy and water resource planning and decision support tools

2. Improving fresh water use efficiency in thermoelectric power generation

3. Accelerate implementation of renewable and fresh water use efficient power generation resources

4. Improve water use efficiency in biofuels/biomass energy5. Assess use of nontraditional water for energy production

and generation6. Improve water treatment to reduce water quality concerns

on oil and gas development - produced water, oil shale, etc.7. Improve characterization/monitoring of water supplies,

trends in supply variability, and changing demands8. Infrastructure changes to improve energy/water efficiency

Summary of Major National Needs and Research Directions from Roadmap Workshops

Many documents highlight the issues

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A REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Discussion Facilitated by Sandia National Laboratories

and the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation

What is the DOE thinking about the issues

Nationally/DOE, get slides from Alan Hoffman At Sandia

Partial Presentation Used with Permission from Dr. Hoffman

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Water-Energy Research Needs

R&D to:

reduce steam power plant cooling requirements Nuclear, fossil, concentrating solar

reduce energy requirements of desalination

develop less energy-intensive technology for water decontamination, treatment and reuse

reduce water use in agriculture

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Research Needs (continued)

understand the water requirements of emerging energy technologies:

biofuels carbon capture and sequestration oil and gas shales tar sands hydrogen economy

understand the impact of global climate change on spatial and temporal variability of water resources

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DOE Water-Energy R&D Activities

Several program offices are supporting water-energy R&D Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy,

Policy and International Affairs, Nuclear Energy, Science

Many national laboratories and contractors are carrying out these R&D activities

These efforts will receive increased emphasis in the future as the US and other countries undertake efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change an initial report to the President by the interagency

Climate Change Adaptation Task Force is scheduled for October

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A Sampling of DOE R&D Activities

minimizing the environmental impact of water used for the hydrofracturing of gas shales

reducing water used by biofuels, nuclear, geothermal and concentrating solar power systems

detecting, understanding and predicting climate change impacts on precipitation

opportunities for hydropower upgrades at existing facilities

analytical tools for managing energy-water tradeoffs in hydropower systems

impacts of drought on water availability for power plant cooling in Western U.S.

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DOE R&D Activities (continued)

advanced, more efficient separation technologies for treating degraded water

improving the quality of oil and gas produced water

addition of water flows to energy planning models

use of mine water and treated wastewaters in thermal power plants

use of saline formations for combined thermal power plant water needs and carbon sequestration

water-related issues affecting conventional oil and gas recovery and potential shale oil development in Utah

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Concluding Remarks In recent years there has been a growing understanding

and acknowledgment that water and energy issues are inseparable

A broad range of water-energy R&D activities currently is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the level of support is likely to increase

Thank you

allan.hoffman@ee.doe.gov

202-586-8302

Sandia National Laboratories Water Program Objectives

Treatment Technologies

Modeling & Management

Security Systems

Energy-Water

Sandia’s Modeling Innovation

System Dynamics

Code Integration (e.g., MODFLOW, REMI)

Agent Based Modeling

Serious Gaming

Collaborative Modeling

GIS

Web Served Models

Transports H2O fast

Water channels Ion channels

Bio-inspired design

Theory to reveal mechanism

Selects ions fast

Sandia’s Treatment Innovations

Ga-substituted alumina Keggin ionExample ceragenin, CSA-13

O

H

O

OH2N

H

NH

C8H17

H2N NH2