Water and energy are indispensable to the social and economic development of a
country. The rising pressure on resource demands, new production, and consumption
models requires a better understanding about the connections between water
and energy, because choices made in one area impact – positively or negatively –
the other. The production model in energy has consequences on the quantity and
quality of available water. This chapter assesses the water-use intensities and
associated water quality and wider environmental impacts, across the extraction,
processing, storage, and transport of the array of energy sources including hydropower,
natural gas, oil, and transportation biofuels.