ABSTRACT
Shaurya Prakash and Karen Bellman Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Water is an essential ingredient to life. As human civilizations have evolved, the use and demands on water have grown. Modern societies are complex, interdependent networks driven by a plethora of industrial, agricultural, and residential activities involving the consumption of energy and water. For example, we use water to mine, rene, and convert energy resources while using energy to collect, treat, and distribute freshwater. Consequently, in recent years, the interdependence between generation and use of energy, and the need and use for clean water have been well documented. This interdependency or connection is referred to as the energy-water nexus. The direct science and engineering implication for the energy-water nexus is the need to solve a coupled problem rather than a single problem.
