How much water do you use in one day? It’s likely more than you think, according to water experts who gathered last month at UNESCO-IHE for a water management symposium.
This was the first time within an academic setting that biofuels have ever been discussed with regard to virtual water. The term virtual water was coined by Tony Allan, a retired professor from King’s College London and the symposium’s keynote speaker.
If you’re drinking coffee as you read this paper, you’re benefiting from the use of 140 liters of water needed to grow and process the coffee in your cup. If you had meat for lunch, you used much more, since it takes 16,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of beef. In the Netherlands, the average person uses over 1.2 million liters of water per year.
Water is used to produce much of what we eat, wear, and increasingly, with the world’s growing reliance on biofuels, the energy used to power our homes and cars. The researchers who gathered last month at the symposium ‘Water Trade: a Virtual Reality’ discussed how water embedded in products, termed ‘virtual water’, moves around the world. The symposium focused on how using more water to grow crops that are turned into biofuels, such as corn or ‘jatropha’, might impact the environment and displace food production.
Panel discussions and workshops counted on the participation of experts and graduate students from TU Delft, UNESCO-IHE, and Twente University, as well as professionals from the nongovernmental and private sectors. The participants, ranging from countries across the globe, offered a wide range of perspectives in fields as diverse as hydrology and policy management, engineering and economics.
This was the first time within an academic setting that biofuels have ever been discussed with regard to virtual water, said Pieter van der Zaag, chairman of the event and professor of Integrated Water Resources Management at UNESCO-IHE.
The term virtual water was coined by Tony Allan, a retired professor from King’s College London and the symposium’s keynote speaker. Allan opened the discussion by noting the importance of understanding how water is traded around the globe. The virtual water concept may seem abstract, but it’s useful, he said, because it helps societies prepare for and adapt to increased water scarcity and climate change, and most importantly to avoid water-induced conflicts.
Follow-up speakers dug into the concrete details of the current situation. Stefan Uhlenbrook, professor of water engineering at UNESCO-IHE, summarized the development of biofuels around the world and their potential impact on water resources. Arjen Hoekstra, professor of water engineering & management at the University of Twente, presented a useful tool for calculating the ‘water footprint’ of nations and individuals. But as the numbers added up, both academics gave reason to pause in the current gangbusters approach to biofuels.
The European Commission’s recently announced ‘Renewable Energy Roadmap’ states that by 2020, 20% of Europe’s energy mix should be derived from renewable sources. Biofuels already make up the majority of that sector and are likely to be promoted further. But as Hoekstra noted, even a 10% substitution would require 40% land conversion in Europe, an impossibility that has turned the attention of biofuel production to the global South.
Two other speakers on the panel addressed the implications of biofuel production in developing countries, not just for water resources but for food security and other social concerns. Arjan Berkhuysen, representing the World Wildlife Fund, spoke about the need to link consumer preferences in the Netherlands with sustainable development and ecosystems. Katja Langen, of the energy company Eneco, spoke about the Cramer Criteria . balancing the needs of people, the planet, and profit . and its role in her company’s investment in biofuels in Tanzania.
Thumb-wrestling
Some in the audience were still not convinced that biofuels can be a fair deal. “We still have problems of hunger,” said Godfrey Komba, an MSc student at UNESCO-IHE from Tanzania. “The land will be used for the highest value crop, and that might mean growing fuel for Europeans instead of food for Africans.”
Mariano Tesoura, from Mozambique and a MSc student at UNESCO-IHE, echoed this concern with a wry suggestion: “If Holland has such productive agriculture, why not stop growing flowers and grow their own biofuels?”
In order to facilitate the exchange of ideas between groups with different perspectives, symposium organizers set up panels and workshops in which participants were encouraged to work together. Sometimes the participants interacted in unorthodox ways, like in games involving thumb-wrestling or hula-hoops, which showed players that those who collaborate rather than act in their own interests come out ahead.
“The fact that I could walk into a room and see people from all over, students, professors, corporations, NGOs, and they’re all thumb-wrestling together, was fantastic,” said symposium organizer Rick Reijtenbaugh, an MSc student in Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) at TU Delft.
After attending two different afternoon sessions that included video presentations, serious games, smart board mind-mapping, and collaborative decision-making, the group reconvened to summarize their experiences during the interactive workshops. Though solutions to the biofuels dilemma weren’t reached, participants found that in games as in real life, the instinct to collaborate often comes too late.
“When you’re in the game everyone wants to win, you can’t understand why there’s a need to collaborate until afterwards,” said Shanon van Keeken, an MSc student in TPM at TU Delft. “With biofuels, we might rush to support them without first thinking about all the implications.”
Other participants used the opportunity reflect on other potential ways of reducing energy and water use. “We talk of meeting our needs by altering water cycles around the world, but we also need to talk about demand management and reducing our consumption,” said Cristina Madrid-Lopez, a PhD student from Spain who is visiting Twente University.
Panelist and TU Delft professor of hydrology, Huub Savenije, agreed that when researchers discuss elements of scarcity in the world using the virtual water concept, one of the most important outcomes is that it helps us gain insights into our own consumption patterns.
The debate on biofuels is far from finished, but the symposium certainly succeeded in connecting some issues that will stimulate further research. Professor Eric Mostert of TU Delft’s water management section summed it up: “This will be a big issue in coming years, and it’s obvious there’s a major need for interdisciplinary research not just in hydrology but in all the technological and social sciences.”
What is your water footprint? Use the Footprint Calculator to find out: www.waterfootprint.org
If you’re drinking coffee as you read this paper, you’re benefiting from the use of 140 liters of water needed to grow and process the coffee in your cup. If you had meat for lunch, you used much more, since it takes 16,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of beef. In the Netherlands, the average person uses over 1.2 million liters of water per year.
Water is used to produce much of what we eat, wear, and increasingly, with the world’s growing reliance on biofuels, the energy used to power our homes and cars. The researchers who gathered last month at the symposium ‘Water Trade: a Virtual Reality’ discussed how water embedded in products, termed ‘virtual water’, moves around the world. The symposium focused on how using more water to grow crops that are turned into biofuels, such as corn or ‘jatropha’, might impact the environment and displace food production.
Panel discussions and workshops counted on the participation of experts and graduate students from TU Delft, UNESCO-IHE, and Twente University, as well as professionals from the nongovernmental and private sectors. The participants, ranging from countries across the globe, offered a wide range of perspectives in fields as diverse as hydrology and policy management, engineering and economics.
This was the first time within an academic setting that biofuels have ever been discussed with regard to virtual water, said Pieter van der Zaag, chairman of the event and professor of Integrated Water Resources Management at UNESCO-IHE.
The term virtual water was coined by Tony Allan, a retired professor from King’s College London and the symposium’s keynote speaker. Allan opened the discussion by noting the importance of understanding how water is traded around the globe. The virtual water concept may seem abstract, but it’s useful, he said, because it helps societies prepare for and adapt to increased water scarcity and climate change, and most importantly to avoid water-induced conflicts.
Follow-up speakers dug into the concrete details of the current situation. Stefan Uhlenbrook, professor of water engineering at UNESCO-IHE, summarized the development of biofuels around the world and their potential impact on water resources. Arjen Hoekstra, professor of water engineering & management at the University of Twente, presented a useful tool for calculating the ‘water footprint’ of nations and individuals. But as the numbers added up, both academics gave reason to pause in the current gangbusters approach to biofuels.
The European Commission’s recently announced ‘Renewable Energy Roadmap’ states that by 2020, 20% of Europe’s energy mix should be derived from renewable sources. Biofuels already make up the majority of that sector and are likely to be promoted further. But as Hoekstra noted, even a 10% substitution would require 40% land conversion in Europe, an impossibility that has turned the attention of biofuel production to the global South.
Two other speakers on the panel addressed the implications of biofuel production in developing countries, not just for water resources but for food security and other social concerns. Arjan Berkhuysen, representing the World Wildlife Fund, spoke about the need to link consumer preferences in the Netherlands with sustainable development and ecosystems. Katja Langen, of the energy company Eneco, spoke about the Cramer Criteria . balancing the needs of people, the planet, and profit . and its role in her company’s investment in biofuels in Tanzania.
Thumb-wrestling
Some in the audience were still not convinced that biofuels can be a fair deal. “We still have problems of hunger,” said Godfrey Komba, an MSc student at UNESCO-IHE from Tanzania. “The land will be used for the highest value crop, and that might mean growing fuel for Europeans instead of food for Africans.”
Mariano Tesoura, from Mozambique and a MSc student at UNESCO-IHE, echoed this concern with a wry suggestion: “If Holland has such productive agriculture, why not stop growing flowers and grow their own biofuels?”
In order to facilitate the exchange of ideas between groups with different perspectives, symposium organizers set up panels and workshops in which participants were encouraged to work together. Sometimes the participants interacted in unorthodox ways, like in games involving thumb-wrestling or hula-hoops, which showed players that those who collaborate rather than act in their own interests come out ahead.
“The fact that I could walk into a room and see people from all over, students, professors, corporations, NGOs, and they’re all thumb-wrestling together, was fantastic,” said symposium organizer Rick Reijtenbaugh, an MSc student in Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) at TU Delft.
After attending two different afternoon sessions that included video presentations, serious games, smart board mind-mapping, and collaborative decision-making, the group reconvened to summarize their experiences during the interactive workshops. Though solutions to the biofuels dilemma weren’t reached, participants found that in games as in real life, the instinct to collaborate often comes too late.
“When you’re in the game everyone wants to win, you can’t understand why there’s a need to collaborate until afterwards,” said Shanon van Keeken, an MSc student in TPM at TU Delft. “With biofuels, we might rush to support them without first thinking about all the implications.”
Other participants used the opportunity reflect on other potential ways of reducing energy and water use. “We talk of meeting our needs by altering water cycles around the world, but we also need to talk about demand management and reducing our consumption,” said Cristina Madrid-Lopez, a PhD student from Spain who is visiting Twente University.
Panelist and TU Delft professor of hydrology, Huub Savenije, agreed that when researchers discuss elements of scarcity in the world using the virtual water concept, one of the most important outcomes is that it helps us gain insights into our own consumption patterns.
The debate on biofuels is far from finished, but the symposium certainly succeeded in connecting some issues that will stimulate further research. Professor Eric Mostert of TU Delft’s water management section summed it up: “This will be a big issue in coming years, and it’s obvious there’s a major need for interdisciplinary research not just in hydrology but in all the technological and social sciences.”
What is your water footprint? Use the Footprint Calculator to find out: www.waterfootprint.org
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