Title
Modelling the dynamic interactions between London's water and energy systems from an end-use perspective
Date Issued
15 November 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Imperial College London
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
Cities are concentrations of demand to water and energy systems that rely on resources under increasing pressure from scarcity and climate change mitigation targets. They are linked in many ways across their different components, the collection of which is termed a nexus. In industrialised countries, the residential end-use component of the urban water-energy nexus has been identified as significant. However, the effect of the end-use water and energy interdependence on urban dynamics had not been studied. In this work, a novel system dynamics model is developed with an explicit representation of the water-energy interactions at the residential end use and their influence on the demand for resources. The model includes an endogenous carbon tax based climate change mitigation policy which aims to meet carbon targets by reducing consumer demand through price. It also encompasses water resources planning with respect to system capacity and supply augmentation. Using London as a case study, we show that the inclusion of end-use interactions has a major impact on the projections of water sector requirements. In particular, future water demand per capita is lower, and less supply augmentation is needed than would be planned for without considering the interactions. We find that deep decarbonisation of electricity is necessary to maintain an acceptable quality of life while remaining within water and greenhouse gas emissions constraints. The model results show a clear need for consideration of the end-use level water-energy interactions in policy analysis. The modelling tool provides a base for this that can be adapted to the context of any industrialised country.
Start page
615
End page
626
Volume
230
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Oceanografía, Hidrología, Recursos hídricos
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85052906668
Source
Applied Energy
ISSN of the container
03062619
Sponsor(s)
The authors sincerely thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their time and for their support through insightful and constructive comments. The guidance from Dr Deniz Koca, Dr Kaveh Madani, Dr Karen Noiva, Dr Margaret Garcia, James Houghton and Dr Alark Saxena has been indispensable for the system dynamics modelling in this work. This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through their Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet (SSCP) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London (ICL) [grant number NE/L002515/1] and through the Sustaining Water Resources for Food, Energy & Ecosystem Services Programme project Coupled Human And Natural Systems Environment for water management under uncertainty in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (CHANSE) [grant number NE/N01670X/1]. The support of ICL’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is also gratefully acknowledged.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus