Events Calendar

Astani CEE Seminar

Speaker: Kelly T. Sanders, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering , The University of Texas at Austin

Talk Title: The Energy – Water Nexus: Achieving Cross-cutting Efficiencies Through Better Resource Management

Abstract: Energy and water are vital to economic security and quality of life. Together they enable an ample food supply, electricity production, and safe drinking water. They are also interrelated: energy is required to pump, treat, pressurize, and heat water, and water is critical to producing fuels and cooling power plants. Building on Sanders’ research, this seminar will address both sides of the energy-water nexus to quantify the scale of the relationship and identify synergistic conservation strategies for both resources. The first part of the seminar will discuss research findings that quantified primary energy consumption for water services at the national level. Using a combination of top-down sectoral assessments of energy use together with a bottom-up allocation of energy-for-water on a component-wise and service-specific level, energy use for direct water and steam services was estimated to be 12.3±0.3 quadrillion BTUs or 12.6% of 2010 annual primary energy consumption in the United States. The second part of the seminar describes research evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of water conservation schemes through changes to grid-scale power plant dispatch operations in water-scarce regions. Results suggest that shifting the merit order by which power plants are dispatched within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ (ERCOT) electric grid can reduce the power sector’s water withdrawals and water consumption by as much as 90% and 40%, respectively, with an increase in operational costs of about 25-40% based on baseline operating characteristics in 2011. The results of these studies reveal interesting and non-intuitive insights about cross-sectoral conservation benefits. Namely, water conservation in the residential and commercial sectors can yield large energy savings, and changes to the power sector can yield large water savings.




Biography: Kelly T. Sanders received her Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 2007 and a Master’s Degree from The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Mechanical Engineering Thermal/Fluids Systems program in 2010. She is currently pursuing a PhD from the University of Texas’ Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. In 2012, Kelly was featured in Forbes’ magazine in its 30 under 30 feature for her research achievements in energy. Her research interests include the nexus of energy, food and water.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209 Conference Room

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes