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Energy Water Nexus 2016

VIEW Proposals
Proposal creation

CoLab members create proposals

Jan 15, 2016 08:00 EST - May 23, 2016 08:00 EDT
Semi-Finalist selection
Expert judges select semi-finalists

May 23, 2016 08:00 EDT - Jun 7, 2016 12:00 EDT
Proposal revisions
Semi-finalists can improve their proposals

Jun 7, 2016 12:00 EDT - Jun 16, 2016 12:00 EDT
Finalist selection
Expert judges select finalists

Jun 16, 2016 12:00 EDT - Jul 5, 2016 12:00 EDT
Voting period
Public Voting Period

Jul 5, 2016 12:00 EDT - Aug 1, 2016 12:00 EDT
Completed
Winners are awarded

Aug 1, 2016 12:00 EDT
What actions can address interdependent water-energy challenges, and drive us toward a secure water and energy future?

Water and energy are vital to sustain human life. The provision of secure, safe, and sustainable water and energy supplies are universal goals in every society. The “water-energy nexus” is the fundamental insight that energy is “water thirsty”, and that the provision of water is energy-intensive. At its simplest, this can be broken down into “water for energy” - water used for cooling power plants, processing fuels, etc.- and “energy for water” - energy used to move, treat, and heat water. Thus, access to clean water and sanitation can be limited by insufficient electricity, and protection of water against contamination can save energy while rising temperatures and droughts can disrupt electricity production. In the face of climate change, energy and water systems will continue to evolve, driven by mitigation measures affecting energy portfolios and technologies, and adaptation measures addressing floods, drought and heatwaves. The energy-water nexus implies that challenges and opportunities in each create tradeoffs and synergies in the other; innovative strategies for conserving or recycling water will alter energy use, and vice versa. This contest seeks high-impact proposals providing a feasible action that can be taken at any scale —local, national, regional, and international — that can drive us towards a sustainable and secure water and energy future. All proposals are welcome: technologies, policies, products, community projects, educational programs.

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7 Proposals
Jun 15, 2016
Team only
100% of technology is off-the-shelf now to make all buildings Net Zero Carbon! Ends water use for all electric generation and most chillers.
Jun 15, 2016
Team only
A scalable climate resilient system that taps into hard or sea water to provide fresh water and energy and saves from brine disposal issues.
Jun 15, 2016
Team only
Community Water and Energy Centers produce reliable, renewable and resilient energy and clean water while restoring the natural environment.
Jun 15, 2016
Team only
In every 1 million Btu's of combusted natural gas are 5 gallons of recoverable ~ distilled water.
Jun 13, 2016
Team only
Agroforestry a system of land use in which harvestable trees or shrubs are grown among or around crops.
Jun 11, 2016
Team only
Rainwater harvesting is a technology used for collecting and storing rainwater from rooftops using simple techniques such as jars and pots.
Jun 10, 2016
Team only
The first step towards mitigation of climate change effects is the awerenes of environimentally friendly sources of energy, renewable energy