NEWS RELEASE: Water Shortages Put Asian Power Sector at Risk

http://www.wri.org/press/2010/04/news-release-water-shortages-put-asian-power-sector-risk


Summary

Many places in South and Southeast Asia use thermal and hydroelectric power plants that require large amounts of water, for cooling and generation. Unfortunately, more than half of the existing and planned power plants are located in areas that are currently considered water scarce. Due to the water shortage, places such as India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are at great risk. Water plays a big role in these countries and the fact that there is a limited resource of it greatly impacts the food and beverage sector. Majority of the water shortage put India's power generation companies in the highest risk. More than 60 percent of planned power plants of the three largest power generation companies in India are located in water scarce areas. A senior associate from World's Resource Institute says that power sector investors and analysts' long term bets on future water supply might no longer be reliable. Also mentioning that they need to start considering long-term investment strategies. Many companies are managing these risks and at the same time are trying to cooperate with investors, suggesting that they understand the specific steps to optimize water use at the plant level.


Connection

Chapter one has a whole page covered on the topic of how water is important and is a scarce resource. Water is an important resource in a variety of ways, especially when it comes to food and beverages, modern conveniences, as well as power supply. Which leads to the main topic of the article I've chosen; the affects of water shortage on Asian power sectors. Countries in South and Southeast Asia are currently facing water shortage that is putting their usage of power plants for cooling and generation at risk. Water plays an important role in the countries of Asia, especially since it's affecting their power sector. However the textbook states that to Canadians, water is more important for everyday usages such as shower uses, toilet uses, dishwasher uses as well as garden hose uses. Another connection is scarcity, water is without a doubt scarce. Just as the textbook states, anything that has an insufficient amount or supply, in this case it's water.


Reflection

I never really took the time to consider how important water is to us and our everyday lives. Water is what functions everything in a washroom, keep us hydrated and is sometimes wasted. We need and demand more water then the available supply. After reading this article i've learned that water is not only important to our modern conveniences but also in other countries, it is used to function power plants for cooling and generation purposes. I find it interesting how water is used for so much more than to comfort thirst. It's a amazing that countries in Asia are using water in such a useful way other than watering a lawn.