Water Quality Impacts of the Energy-Water Nexus

Description

Energy and water have been fundamental to powering the global economy and building modern society. This cross-disciplinary book provides an integrated assessment of the different scientific and policy tools around the energy-water nexus. It focuses on how water use, and wastewater and waste solids produced from fossil fuel energy production affect water quality and quantity. Summarizing cutting edge research, it describes the scientific methods for detecting contamination sources in the context of policy and regulations. The authors highlight the growing evidence that fossil fuel production, from both conventional and unconventional sources, leads to water quality degradation, while regulations for the water and energy sector remain fractured and highly variable across and within countries. This volume will be a key reference for scholars, industry professionals, environmental consultants and policy makers seeking information on the risks associated with the energy cycle and its impact on the environment, particularly water resources.

Avner Vengosh is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Quality at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. His research focuses on evaluating the prevalence and sources of contaminants in global groundwater resources, and the impact of energy development such as hydraulic fracturing and coal combustion on the quantity and quality of water resources. In 2019 and 2020 he was named on the list of the world's Most Highly Cited Researchers. Erika Weinthal is Professor of Environmental Policy and Public Policy at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. She specializes in global environmental politics with an emphasis on water and energy. She has co-authored Oil Is Not a Curse: Ownership Structure and Institutions in Soviet Successor States (Cambridge, 2010) and co-edited The Oxford Handbook on Water Politics and Policy (2017).