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Cited by 36

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Freshwater use of the energy sector in Africa

Gonzalez Sanchez, Rocio, Seliger, Roman, Fahl, Fernando, De Felice, Luca, Ouarda, Taha B.M.J., Farinosi, Fabio·2020·Applied Energy
DOI 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115171
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Abstract

The fast economic and population growth in the African continent will lead to an important increase in demand for energy and water resources. Unfortunately, very few studies have addressed water use for energy production in Africa. This study focuses on water consumption and withdrawals throughout the different stages of energy production (fuel production, power plant construction and operation) in African countries. An in-depth analysis of water loss through evaporation in hydropower reservoirs is also performed due to the important role it plays in many countries and its severe impacts on electricity generation during the increasingly frequent droughts in Africa. The results indicate that in the year 2016, a total of 42 billion cubic meters of water was lost through evaporation in hydropower reservoirs compared to 1.2 billion cubic meters from all the other fuel types combined. Oil extraction and refining dominate water use for fuel production and non-hydro renewable energies have an almost negligible impact on the overall water use (10 million cubic meters). Fuelwood is shown to be a high consumer of water accounting for 4.5 billion cubic meters. The use of non-hydro renewable energies instead of fossil fuels can contribute significantly to reduce water use while covering the growing energy needs in Africa. Modern technologies that substitute fuelwood use in households would also reduce the impacts on water resources. The hydropower potential remains largely untapped in several regions of the continent. Nevertheless, new hydropower developments need to be carefully considered especially in regions characterized by severe water scarcity.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115171

Cites

42 of 42 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Figures

Image 1
CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 1 Total primary energy supply and total installed capacity of power plants in Africa by fuel type in the year 2016 (data from [24,25]).
Fig. 1 Total primary energy supply and total installed capacity of power plants in Africa by fuel type in the year 2016 (data from [24,25]).CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 2 Distribution of power plants in Africa by fuel type (fossil fuels, renewable energies, nuclear energy and waste heat) indicated by the colours and installed capacity indicated by the size of the circles (data from [25,54-56]).
Fig. 2 Distribution of power plants in Africa by fuel type (fossil fuels, renewable energies, nuclear energy and waste heat) indicated by the colours and installed capacity indicated by the size of the circles (data from [25,54-56]).CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 3 Water consumption for extraction (fossil fuels and uranium) and oil refining for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for 15 countries due to the large disparities in scale existing among the African countries.
Fig. 3 Water consumption for extraction (fossil fuels and uranium) and oil refining for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for 15 countries due to the large disparities in scale existing among the African countries.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 5 Water consumption for power plant operation by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 18 countries due to scale difference.
Fig. 5 Water consumption for power plant operation by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 18 countries due to scale difference.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 6 Water withdrawal for power plant operation by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 16 countries due to scale difference.
Fig. 6 Water withdrawal for power plant operation by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 16 countries due to scale difference.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 4 Water consumption and withdrawal for power plant operation for different fuel types, aggregated for the whole African continent.
Fig. 4 Water consumption and withdrawal for power plant operation for different fuel types, aggregated for the whole African continent.CC-BY · From the PDF
Image 8
CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 8 Water consumption for power plant construction by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 14 countries due to scale difference.
Fig. 8 Water consumption for power plant construction by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 14 countries due to scale difference.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 7 Water consumption and withdrawal for power plant construction for different fuel types, aggregated for the whole African continent.
Fig. 7 Water consumption and withdrawal for power plant construction for different fuel types, aggregated for the whole African continent.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 9 Water withdrawal for power plant construction by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 13 countries due to scale difference.
Fig. 9 Water withdrawal for power plant construction by fuel type for the top 20 countries with the highest water values. Enlarged detailed view presented for the last 13 countries due to scale difference.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 10 Total water consumption (fuel production, power plant construction and operation) for different fuel types (fossil fuels, non-hydro renewables, nuclear and waste heat). The bar diagrams present the countries with the highest water use within the five African regions. Disparities in the amount of water use within the countries are shown in the map with a scale that allows to visualize also some details of countries with less water use.
Fig. 10 Total water consumption (fuel production, power plant construction and operation) for different fuel types (fossil fuels, non-hydro renewables, nuclear and waste heat). The bar diagrams present the countries with the highest water use within the five African regions. Disparities in the amount of water use within the countries are shown in the map with a scale that allows to visualize also some details of countries with less water use.CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 11 Total water withdrawal (fuel production, power plant construction and operation) for different fuel types (fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear and waste heat). The bar diagrams present the countries with the highest water use within the five African regions. Disparities in the amount of water use within the countries are shown in the map with a scale that allows to visualize also some details of countries with less water use.
Fig. 11 Total water withdrawal (fuel production, power plant construction and operation) for different fuel types (fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear and waste heat). The bar diagrams present the countries with the highest water use within the five African regions. Disparities in the amount of water use within the countries are shown in the map with a scale that allows to visualize also some details of countries with less water use.CC-BY · From the PDF
Image 14
CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 13 Water consumption for fuelwood production for the top 20 countries with the highest water values and the share for different final uses. The distinction between green and blue water is indicated by the dashed line, being the blue water, the share corresponding to the upper part.
Fig. 13 Water consumption for fuelwood production for the top 20 countries with the highest water values and the share for different final uses. The distinction between green and blue water is indicated by the dashed line, being the blue water, the share corresponding to the upper part.CC-BY · From the PDF
Image 16
CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 15 Map with the location of the hydropower plants analysed in the study including information on the size of the reservoir and water loss/energy production of the associated power plant. Major rivers and lakes are represented and grey/white areas indicate the length of the wet season.
Fig. 15 Map with the location of the hydropower plants analysed in the study including information on the size of the reservoir and water loss/energy production of the associated power plant. Major rivers and lakes are represented and grey/white areas indicate the length of the wet season.CC-BY · From the PDF
Image 18
CC-BY · From the PDF
Image 19
CC-BY · From the PDF
Fig. 18 Total water consumption for all energy types (excluding fuelwood) and the associated water consumption per capita for the top 25 countries with highest water consumption (ordered by total water consumption).
Fig. 18 Total water consumption for all energy types (excluding fuelwood) and the associated water consumption per capita for the top 25 countries with highest water consumption (ordered by total water consumption).CC-BY · From the PDF

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. IEA. World energy balances; 2018. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/energy/data/iea-world-energy-statistics-and-balances/world-energy-balances_data-00512-en [accessed September 15, 2018].
  2. FAO, 2005, Irrigation in Africa in figures, AQUASTAT Survey, 29

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Gonzalez Sanchez, R., Seliger, R., Fahl, F., De Felice, L., Ouarda, T. B. M. J., & Farinosi, F.
Venue
Applied Energy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-07
Volume
270
Pages
115171
ISSN
0306-2619
DOI
10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115171
Cited by
36
References
42
Language
en
Licence
Funders
Joint Research Centre

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