Randolph Bromery Fall 2018 Seminar Series: Sarah Jordaan

Description

Sarah Jordaan, an assistant professor of Energy, Resources, and Environment as well as Canadian Studies in the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, will present a talk entitled "Life Cycle Assessment as a Tool for Understanding the Water Implications of Energy Decisions" as part of the (Bromery lecture series.

Abstract:

The combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling unlocked reserves across the United States. The subsequent boom drove down natural gas prices and ignited a rapid coal-to-gas transition in the electric sector. But what are the water implications of these changes? On the one hand, shifting from coal to natural gas in the electric sector can reduce the amount of water consumed for power plant operations by as much as 65%. On the other hand, expansion of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas increases water consumption, which may stress local water supplies. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a cradle-to-grave approach to understanding the environmental impacts of products and processes from materials extraction to waste disposal. While frequently used to understand the greenhouse gas emissions of energy technologies, it has been used less to understand impacts of water consumption. In the past, LCA has generally examined product systems with limited consideration of regionalized environmental factors while water consumed by energy projects has inherently localized impacts. In this seminar, LCA will be introduced as a tool to quantify the water implications of energy technologies, followed by an examination of how life cycle models can be improved to better represent localized impacts of water consumption. Emphasis will be placed on a recent publication that examined the water consumed in the coal-to-gas transmission of the power sector in Pennsylvania. Using a life cycle approach, water consumption was evaluated at the scale of watershed and months from 2009-2012, including both fuel consumption and power generation. The seminar will end with areas that warrant additional research efforts and a discussion of the path forward.