Page 11 - trends in automation 1.2013

The world population is still growing, and the UN expects
it to rise to over 8 billion by 2025 and just under 11 billion
by 2100. Are the earth’s water reserves adequate enough to
sustain this growth?
Cornel: Increased water consumption is difficult to forecast,
as water consumption doesn’t increase in direct proportion
to population growth. A key question is the way in which the
world is developing economically. On the one hand, greater
prosperity means increased domestic and industrial water
consumption. Dietary habits also play a central role. We use
80–85 per cent of our water for the production of food. The
more people switch from a mainly vegetarian diet to eating
meat, the more water is consumed in agriculture. On the other
hand, we are also wasting a lot of water through the use of
inefficient irrigation technologies, for example. Surface irrigation
of fields uses a lot more water than underground drip irrigation.
These opposing trends make it difficult to predict what will
happen in the future. Extreme variations in regional availability
are also a problem, whereby some regions have too much
water while others don’t have enough.
The sea can in principle provide the world with sufficient
water. However, desalination of sea water is extremely energy-
intensive and raises questions about carbon-neutral energy
con­version. Even bioenergy, i.e. energy in the form of biogas
or biofuels, is only of limited use as growing energy crops itself
requires significant volumes of irrigation water. To produce
just one litre of biofuel, several hundred litres of water may be
required depending on the location and conditions.
Innovative, energy-efficient technologies are clearly needed.
What contribution can these make in the future?
Cornel: We need to reduce specific water consumption, not
just with new and efficient technologies, but also by changing
our consumption habits. If new technologies manage to help
significantly reduce water consumption, this will in turn reduce
the pressure on politicians, who will have many big challenges
to deal with in the future. Countries sharing rivers and seas
must agree on how much water they can take. This is a potential
source of conflict. But it is also a situation where technology can
support politics. If efficient water supply and wastewater disposal
solutions are used worldwide, water consumption can remain
within acceptable parameters. This will help people to maintain
and improve their quality of life without any negative impact on
nature, thereby avoiding potential conflicts of interest.
First-hand information:
Prof. Dr. Peter Cornel talks
to our reporter.
1.2013 trends in automation
Inspiration 10 – 11