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Drought in the American West
Yesterday, Circle of Blue and leading experts from the Pacific Institute, Vector Center, and others on the front lines held a live briefing about the drought in the American West.
Watch the event, Drought in the American West, featuring: Andre Fourie, Anheuser-Busch InBev Bidtah Becker, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Giulio Boccaletti, Author, Water: A Biography Heather Cooley, Pacific Institute Susana De Anda, Community Water Center Dr. Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute Hon. Dan Glickman, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Cody Pope, Vector Center Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times |
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| | | Wastewater-to-energy systems start with a process called anaerobic digestion, which treatment plants have been using for ages to reduce the volume of sewage waste. Photo © Richard Webb / Wikimedia Commons |
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| Waste-To-Energy Tech Could Slash U.S. Water Sector Carbon Emissions, But Its Potential Remains Underdeveloped
Wastewater treatment plants in the United States are in a race against time.
Like all other industries, the clock is ticking for the sector to cut its carbon pollution, given President Joe Biden’s goal to halve the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. To make their contribution, utilities will have to pull against strong currents. The energy needs of the wastewater sector are projected to climb during this period, due to population growth and tightening water-quality standards.
For systems that can afford the upfront costs of these waste-to-energy technologies, the process is a win-win. By generating its own energy, the facility cuts its electricity bill, or even turns a profit by selling the surplus. And, because the process reduces methane emissions from the sewage and displaces fossil fuel-powered energy, utilities can slash their net emissions in the process.
Despite the economic advantages of these technologies and their potential environmental benefits, U.S. utilities have been slower than those in other parts of the world to capitalize on the energy embedded in wastewater. Decades of energy policy decisions have left the U.S. market, now on the verge of a rapid expansion, playing catch-up on the international stage. |
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| HotSpots H2O: Indigenous Communities, Biodiversity Along Brazil-Peru Border Threatened by Highway Construction
Canopied by rubber trees and sprawling vines with apple-sized nuts, Acre state in northwest Brazil frames earth’s portrait of natural beauty. And lurching too across Acre state, a highway heaves its concrete girth.
BR-364, the 2,700-mile asphalt strip that weaves through rainforest to connect São Paulo to Acre, might soon be lengthened. A proposal to extend the road 94 miles through this Andes-Amazon “transition zone,” to reach the Peruvian border, is gaining political momentum.
The proposed addition, which would require tree-felling along its entire length, is slated to cut through Serra do Divisor National Park–a haven of Brazilian biodiversity–as well as the territories of the Payanawa, Nukini, Kapanawa, and a half-dozen other tribes. Its construction also threatens the health of diverse Amazonian rivers–white, black, and clear-watered alike–that support essential transport, food and water sources, and cultural beauty. The Acre, Moa, Juruá, and Japiim rivers, which succumbed earlier this year to increased flooding linked to climate change and extreme rain events, are keystone socio-environmental features. |
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| What’s Up With Water – August 2, 2021
For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud. Featured coverage from this week’s episode of What’s Up With Water looks at: In Iran, human rights groups say they have identified at least nine people killed during July protests over water shortages. In Argentina, government officials declared an emergency over the dwindling Parana River, the country's most economically significant waterway. In Saudi Arabia, the government suspended a $2 billion sale of a stake in the world's largest desalination plant. In the United States, water storage in the country's second-largest reservoir fell to an all-time low last week, offering yet another example of the drying of the American West. |
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| From Circle of Blue's Archives: |
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| | | The East Bay Municipal Utility District wastewater treatment plant, a formidable assembly of mixing tanks, pumps, and pipes on the city’s north side, has 11 megawatts of biogas-fueled electrical generating capacity, more than the plant’s power demand. Photo © Keith Schneider / Circle of Blue |
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Although treating wastewater generally ranks alongside police and fire safety, schools, and transit as the top priorities of any sensible city hall, new ideas about cleaning up sewage almost never attract headlines or TV airtime. In its 90-year history, for instance, The New Yorker, the most urbane and expansive magazine in the country, has never published a feature article on sewage treatment.
It has taken a four-year drought in California to change that. In Oakland, a 64-year-old regional wastewater treatment plant has elevated an essential urban service to a new level of innovation and civic importance. The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) treatment plant, a formidable assembly of mixing tanks, pumps, and pipes on the city’s north side, has 11 megawatts of biogas-fueled electrical generating capacity, more than the plant’s power demand. The excess power is sold to the Port of Oakland, and EBMUD saves about $US 3 million in electric expenses a year. |
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