The US Department of Energy (DOE) released a new report that frames an integrated challenge and opportunity space around the water-energy nexus for DOE and its partners and lays the foundation for future efforts. Present day water and energy systems are tightly intertwined. Water is used in all phases of energy production and electricity generation. Energy is required to extract, convey, and deliver water of appropriate quality for diverse human uses. Recent developments have focused national attention on these connections. A hybrid Sankey diagram shows the magnitude of energy and water flows on a national scale. The diagram illustrates that thermoelectric power generation both withdraws large quantities of water for cooling and dissipates tremendous quantities of primary energy due to inefficiencies in converting thermal energy to electricity (“withdrawn” water is diverted from a surface water or groundwater source). The intensity of water use and energy dissipated varies with generation […]