The Future of Renewable Power Production

Nearly two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, the renewable power projects on which the world relies to mitigate climate change face bigger challenges than when the coronavirus started to make headlines in 2020. As the global economy started to recover, commodity prices rose sharply and logistic bottlenecks wreaked havoc on supply chains, causing delays and eroding the margins of power equipment providers and project developers. At this point, unappealing profitability or even financial losses jeopardize investments on research, innovation, and capacity expansion. These were some of the problems discussed during the webinar The Future of Renewables: Insights from Industry Leaders, sponsored by Black & Veatch and held on January 12, 2022, as part of the Energy Leaders Series. To address these issues, the participating experts highlighted the need for new models and incentives to put the renewable power industry back on a profitable course that would enable a stable transition to a greener global energy matrix.

Water Climate Discussion

The Water Climate Discussion series creates a space to come together and help the water sector build its leading role in addressing the climate crisis. The series is the result of close collaboration between water institutions who recognise climate change as an
existential threat and wish to have a voice promoting a key message: water is climate. This report is based on the recorded third discussion of
the series: Energy Transitions, which was aired on Thursday, 1 July 2021. The discussion was hosted by Martin Currie and led by Ivan Vølund of VCS Denmark, John Sammon of Scottish Water Horizons and the interaction of the participants.

Hydrogen 2021: A Roadmap to Net Zero

As the world recognizes the growing impacts of climate change, there is a sense of urgency to accelerate the transition to energy, transport and industrial systems with fewer greenhouse gas emissions and effectuate more sustainable modes of production
and consumption. To enable this transition, new energy carriers will be needed to transfer the increased levels of decarbonized energy
to consumers, without impacting the quality of service to residential, industrial and transportation users. Hydrogen offers
a versatile solution and is emerging as an increasingly important energy vector for decarbonized fuel sources, as well as for the storage and transport of renewable energy. Hydrogen is expected to play a critical role in decarbonizing power generation and transport, heating domestic and commercial buildings, and supporting industrial feedstock and industrial processes — including hard-to-abate sectors such as
steel, refining, cement and agriculture.

Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

The Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.

Factsheet-ECAM 3.0 Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Urban Water Utilities-EN

The “Energy Performance and Carbon Emissions Assessment and Monitoring Tool” (ECAM) offers unique capabilities for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption of water and sanitation systems. Gain greater insights by identifying areas to reduce GHG emissions, increase energy savings and improve overall efficiencies to reduce costs.

Ficha técnica-ECAM 3.0 Midiendo la huella de carbono de las empresas de agua y saneamiento-ES

La “Herramienta de Evaluación y Monitoreo del Desempeño Energético y Emisiones de Carbono” (ECAM) ofrece capacidades excepcionales para evaluar las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) y el consumo de energía en sistemas de agua y saneamiento. Obtenga nuevas perspectivas al identificar áreas de oportunidad para reducir las emisiones de GEI, aumentar el ahorro de energía y mejorar la eficiencia general para reducir costos.

SCADA: Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition

Use of supervisory, control, and data acquisition (SCADA) system for monitoring, supervision and controlling of pumping systems can help minimize energy consumption of GHG emissions. It includes measurements in real time of water levels, pressures, flows, energy consumption and other operational parameters. It also helps to adjust and control the pump station operation, contributing to fight water losses or infiltration, reduce pumping during energy peak hours and adjust pumping volumes to the needs of the system. The SCADA systems provide utility managers with access to real-time operating data and can help offset the higher operating costs by minimizing unplanned downtime and improving maintenance plans. The SCADA system can also be used to optimize pumping in real-time through advanced pump optimization software and control, or through either a model-based or knowledge-based optimization that is implemented via a rule-based system programmed into the SCADA system. This type of optimization entails the use of algorithms to determine the best pumping scheme for a given situation. This can incorporate the peak energy times previously referenced, but also a prioritization of which pumps or pumping stations are used to maximize efficiency whenever possible. For example, if only a certain volume is demanded, then the SCADA system will first operate the most efficient pumps or pumping stations to meet the demand until greater capacity or more pumps are needed.

Comparison of 4 Different Flow Control Methods Of Pumps

Based upon the system head conditions, pumps may be able to pump at higher rates than needed when operating at 100% motor speed. This flow rate can be controlled by one of two ways, throttling the pump with a valve if the pump is a constant speed pump, or changing the motor speed with a variable speed drive. The former is only energy efficient if the higher flow operating point of the pump without throttling is to the right of the best efficiency point on the pump performance curve, and the throttling results in reducing the flow to a point closer to the best efficiency point on the pump curve. Otherwise, throttling the pump can result in using more energy than at the higher flow, as well as wasting energy because you end up using more energy than is needed. When the demand on the system fluctuates significantly, the pumping rate can be controlled automatically by varying the speed of the motor with a variable frequency drive (VFD), such that the pump output matches only what is needed to meet demands or the intended pumping conditions. The pump’s flow rate then increases or decreases based upon the affinity laws and the controlled speed of the motor. This way lower pumping rates can be achieved, which may result in lower efficiency than those at full motor speed; however, the energy consumption is still lower because the energy requirements to pump lower flows at lower heads are lower.

Estudio de Caso – Perú

Planificación local, impacto global – Como las Empresas de Agua y Saneamiento del Perú enfrentan el Cambio Climático

¿Cómo asegurar la prestación de los servicios de agua y saneamiento en un contexto de cambio climático? Los Planes de Mitigación y Adaptación al Cambio Climático (PMACC) son una herramienta para abordar este desafío. Permiten identificar las principales fuentes de emisiones de carbono y los mayores riesgos asociados al clima a lo largo del ciclo urbano del agua; así como las oportunidades de las empresas prestadoras de servicios de agua y saneamiento (EPS) para impulsar un cambio positivo hacia la neutralidad y adaptación climática. Siguiendo una metodología estandarizada y con la ayuda de herramientas virtuales, el proceso de planificación es más rápido y genera un reporte para informar a los tomadores de decisión. Gracias a esta buena planificación, algunas empresas del Perú han empezado a buscar soluciones prácticas para reducir sus emisiones de carbono, como es el caso de las empresas de agua de Cusco y Ayacucho. La iniciativa PMACC fue desarrollada e implementada en colaboración entre WaCCliM (responsable de la parte de mitigación) y PROAGUA II.

Case Study – Peru

Planning locally, impacting globally – How Water and Wastewater Utilities in Peru are Facing Climate Change

How to ensure water and sanitation services delivery under a climate change context? The climate change mitigation and adaptation plans (PMACC; Planes de Mitigación y Adaptación al Cambio Climático) are tools to address this challenge. PMACC identify main carbon emissions sources and higher climate risks throughout the urban water cycle, along with water utilities’ opportunities to boost a positive change towards climate neutrality and adaptation. Following a standardised methodology and supported by web-based tools, the planning process becomes quicker and generates a report to informing decision-makers. This planning approach enabled some water utilities in Peru to start searching for practical carbon emissions reduction solutions, such as water utilities in Cusco and Ayacucho. The PMACC initiative was developed and implemented collaboratively between WaCCliM (responsible for mitigation) and PROAGUA II.

Assess your utility’s carbon footprint
X Close

Assess your utility’s energy performance and GHG emissions

Assess my system