Abengoa-FB Side Event – Collado, Abengoa, 14th January, 2015 UN Water Conference Zaragoza

Innovative Technology Solutions for Sustainability

January 2015

Abengoa

Sustainable development challenges

2015 UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference

1 6,5 43

Sustainability Quality

Scarcity

Water related challenges

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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Thank you!