WATER-ENERGY-CLIMATE NEXUS: INTERDEPENDANCIES AND TRADEOFFS, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR STRATEGIC RESOURCE PLANNING
type: CreativeWork
description: The water-energy nexus has been an active area of research in recent decades and has been explored in many different directions pertaining to its core. It is imperative to manage water and energy in a holistic approach as there are critical interconnections between the two systems. Climate change is an intrinsic environmental variable that has vital implications for the study of water-energy nexus, and hence, the term water-energy-climate nexus is used throughout the dissertation in reference to the interdependencies and tradeoffs between these systems. This dissertation is composed of three research studies under the domain of the water-energy-climate nexus, and they are interconnected through the intrinsic linkages among the three systems. The first study deals with the vulnerability of U.S. thermoelectric power plants to climate change. Findings suggest that the impact of climate change is lower than in previous estimates due to the inclusion of a spatially-disaggregated representation of environmental regulations and provisional variances that temporarily relieve power plants from permit requirements. This study highlights the significance of accounting for legal constructs and underscores the effects of provisional variances along with environmental requirements. The second study demonstrates the adaptation measures taken by the U.S. energy system in the face of constraints on water availability. Results show that water availability constraints may cause substantial capital stock turnover and result in non-negligible economic costs for the western U.S. This work emphasizes the need to integrate water availability constraints into electricity capacity planning and highlights the state-level challenges to facilitate regional strategic resource planning. The last study assesses the potential of surface reservoir expansion for major river basins around the world as an adaption measure to secure a reliable water supply. Results suggest that conservation zones and fu…
abstract: The water-energy nexus has been an active area of research in recent decades and has been explored in many different directions pertaining to its core. It is imperative to manage water and energy in a holistic approach as there are critical interconnections between the two systems. Climate change is an intrinsic environmental variable that has vital implications for the study of water-energy nexus, and hence, the term water-energy-climate nexus is used throughout the dissertation in reference to the interdependencies and tradeoffs between these systems. This dissertation is composed of three research studies under the domain of the water-energy-climate nexus, and they are interconnected through the intrinsic linkages among the three systems. The first study deals with the vulnerability of U.S. thermoelectric power plants to climate change. Findings suggest that the impact of climate change is lower than in previous estimates due to the inclusion of a spatially-disaggregated representation of environmental regulations and provisional variances that temporarily relieve power plants from permit requirements. This study highlights the significance of accounting for legal constructs and underscores the effects of provisional variances along with environmental requirements. The second study demonstrates the adaptation measures taken by the U.S. energy system in the face of constraints on water availability. Results show that water availability constraints may cause substantial capital stock turnover and result in non-negligible economic costs for the western U.S. This work emphasizes the need to integrate water availability constraints into electricity capacity planning and highlights the state-level challenges to facilitate regional strategic resource planning. The last study assesses the potential of surface reservoir expansion for major river basins around the world as an adaption measure to secure a reliable water supply. Results suggest that conservation zones and fu…
author: Liu, Lu
language: en
date published: 2017
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:02:06Z
provider: University of Maryland
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Maryland

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1903/20405

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.13016/M2J960B8B