THE WATER ISSUE/
On the Importance of Water By Andy Knapp, Energy Workforce & Technology Council
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f the current energy transition isn’t complicated enough, energy producers are also contending the energy paradox – consumers demanding affordable and reliable energy with little or no environmental impact. The corresponding “energy mix” is about offering options for communities, be it a nation or village, to make choices about which combination of energy sources works best for its population. To be a truly effective energy mix, the inventory of offerings must be inclusive. With competing community priorities, the goals and path to achieving the agreed outcomes will likely not be easy. “The energy As Council CEO Leslie Beyer has put it, “Oil and gas will remain part of the energy mix for years to come.”
more than $1,000 per year. On the industrial side, EPA estimates the U.S. employs 18.2 billion gallons per day from direct water withdrawals, not including water from public supplies. Thermoelectric power water withdrawals account for an estimated 49% of the total. Regardless of its many uses and sources, societies around the world have grown complacent to the difficulty of finding and processing water. Much like the energy challenge, water consumers demand it be cheap, clean and plentiful.
On the other end of the spectrum, some societies simply demand water, in whatever form they can get it. Growing scarcity has been attributed to increased sector has demand for freshwater resources worked hard to ‘sell by expanding populations and the every molecule’ in corresponding depletion of fresh competitive markets. water sources. Following eight years of drought in California, even Wall Accessibility to water is Street’s supply and demand ears increasingly strained, perked up in 2020 with the CME and we are moving Group’s foray into the water hedge business. And as we all know, with toward a reality that scarcity comes rising prices.
The energy sector recognizes and respects its place as one of the most regulated industries on the planet. However, the operating aperture continues to tighten. Legislative there is no such thing as and regulatory actions continue to wastewater.” challenge access to resources. InThe energy sector has worked hard creased emissions controls demand to “sell every molecule” in competicontinuously improving technology. tive markets. Accessibility to water is Proper disposal and remediation increasingly strained and we are moving toward a reality require specialized engineering and action. Even with that there is no such thing as “wastewater.” these headwinds, oil and gas are first-pick options in the energy mix inventory and will remain so for the Water in any form has value. Businesses are foreseeable future. constantly determining the difficulty of separating target water from the components mixed with it. Further, The energy dilemma gets even thornier when we add experts are endlessly calculating which processes are the availability and importance of what was once seen needed to impart the quality levels required for the as ubiquitous and renewable: water. water’s next intended use. Water access, utilization and volumes have been flashpoints for wars, court battles and family feuds. Myriad industrial, commercial and residential applications employ water as a universal solvent in any of its phases: solid, liquid and gas. And as humans, we cannot discount water’s vaunted role as the essence of life. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that the average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water per day at home, at a cost of 16
Well Servicing Magazine/December 2021
Can the purification process be done with limited environmental impacts, or do we need high-energy brute force that potentially blow emissions targets? Can the produced water be processed in situ, or can it be safely transported offsite? Can this water enter a pipeline to send it for further processing, utilizing the remarkable safety record of the pipeline system? In situ or offsite, ESG considerations come into play, like risk to the communities where we operate and
