Water: Recycle, Reclaim & Restore Role of Biotechnology

1. Water: Recycle, Reclaim & Restore Role of Biotechnology • ‘ Margaret Catley-Carlson UN Secretary General Advisory Board on Water, World Economic Forum (Davos) Chair Water GICInternational Water Management InstituteSuez EnvironmentGlobal Water Partnership Biovision 2010

2. Biotechnology and water shortage • Why this is central to the future we want. • Why we need to accept new challenges ay • The role of biotechnology • Challenges NOW

3. Our World • Growing population • Exploding urban population Source : Masons Water Yearbook 2001 • Deaths from water scarcity (12 M / year) • Increased poverty in developing countries ã World Bank 2002

4. Diminishing Resources Worldwide • Water availability • Climatic changes • Growing pollution Source : Masons Water Yearbook 2001 ã World Bank 2002

5. Water Scarcity 2000 1/3 of the world’s population live in basins that have to deal with water scarcity

6. Regions where water withdrawals are exceeding natural supply • . Source: UN, Water a shared responsibility, New York 2006

7. . • 6,900 900 • 40% • 2% 1,500 • 4,200 • Groundwater 700 • 100 4,500 3,500 • Surface water • 2030withdrawals • Existing • accessible, reliable, sustainable supply • Basins with deficits • Basins with surplus New Voices: McKinsey 2010: Future demand for water will outstrip our capacity to provide it • 4,500 • Municipal & • Domestic 600 800 • Industry 3,100 • Agriculture • LENGE • Existing • withdrawals

8. ‘ • Portion of gap • Percent • 8,000 • Demand with no productivity improvements • 7,000 • Improvements in water productivity at historical rates • 20% • 6,000 • 60% • Remaining gap • 5,000 • Increase in supply at historical rates • 20% • 3,000 • Existing accessible, reliable, sustainable supply McKinsey - Business-as-usual approaches will not meet demand for raw water Billion m3 • NEED ACTION • Today • 2030

9. So – with all this rising demand – How do we create this better water world?And with BIOTECH?? • Storage • Conservation • Agricultural productivity improvement • Brackish water – agriculture and industrial • Re use, recycling, reclaiming water

10. 6,150 North America 4,729 Australia Brazil 3,255 China 2,486 Laos 1,406 Thailand 1,287 South Africa 746 Ethiopia 43 40 Jordan 6 Nepal 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 New Storage: Huge discrepancies in hydraulic infrastructure between developed and developing countries Storage per person (m3)

11. 2 - 5 litres daily 20 – 500 litres daily 500 – 3000 litres per kg 2000 l/day - vegetarian diet 5000 l/day - grainfed meat diet Why do we need water?

12. Reminding ourselves why we need water…. Why do we need water? Food – 75% It takes a litre of water to produce every calorie, on average

13. Irrigation lifts rural poor out of poverty Average income levels and irrigation intensity in India Income per capita

14. The 850 million undernourished. Dependent on Water for Agriculture? Vulnerable to loss of water Employment Nutrition, food security, income There are few options outside of agriculture for most rural poor at present Lower Food Prices Source: FAO data, graphic from SEI

15. Water is used for energy generation energy: consumed in water extraction, distribution, treatment and desalination Business environment Water used to generate energy Extraction & refining Hydropower Fuel production (Ethanol, Hydrogen) Thermoelectric cooling Extraction & transmission Waste water treatment Energy associated with uses of water Drinking water treatment Energy used for water

16. ' The water sector is increasingly becoming a significant energy consumer Business environment Specific Energy Consumption for Different Water Sources Total (thermal & electrical) – KWh/m3 Mechanical Vapor Compression 17 8 MED with thermo compression 14 9 Multiple Stage Flash 13 10.5 Multiple Effect Distillation 9 7.4 Seawater RO 8.5 3.6 Water Transfer > 350 km 3.6 3.6 Brackish water RO 2.5 1 Waste Water Reuse 2.5 1 Conventional treatment 1 0.2 Water is used for energy generation and energy is consumed in water extraction, distribution, treatment and desalination

17. Biotechnology needed to improve productivity: further growth in yields United States China Latin America Sub-Saharan Africa

18. . New Science to reduce the water needed: feed & fodder. Food demand doubles over the next 50 because of diet and population Water Needs (ET) will double – without water productivity gains

19. We have tolose less – and re-use morein this system.

20. The main problem?? • We don’t value water • Irrigation systems – 40-60% efficiency norm in too many places • Municipal systems – 30% unaccounted for water • We leave taps running – literally and metaphorically • We don’t pay enough for it • We don’t design it in as a scarce VALUABLE

21. ‘ Great New Ideas(the world we need to create) • Water sparing, disease resistant high yield crops • Buildings that are water neutral…. • Desalination………..IF • Waste Water Energy Sources • Waste Water ReUse - agriculture • New Urban Design – the cell phone not the landline.

22. We also need to recycle and re-use water: we are starting to talk

23. The New Waste Water World • Technologies that create ‘cascading use’ – • clean water for drinking and personal use, • cascading down to grey water which can be ‘cleaned enough’ for agricultural, urban, and industrial use • which can be ‘cleaned enough’ for recycling or environmental recharge etc • Sewage, either harvested for energy and/or nutrients then ‘cleaned enough’ for agricultural or environmental use. • Filters, energy sparing devices, re-use devices, reed bed examples • “As small as possible – as big as necessary”: • collection of existing prototypes and development of new designs for small cities and urban units. • mosaic of modules in the cities, not uniform design types.

24. ; • Modular installations • Replace city wide trunk and branch systems in not-served (and refurbishment) areas; • Acceptance of a mosaic of methods • adoption of the idea of ‘getting started’ with an initial module,) • Collection and piping systems that allow “like sewage/like wastewater” to be collected and treated • opens doors to ecosystem, small scale and biological methods • new high tech, even energy harvesting methods. • Treatment which corresponds to the next use of the water, • aquifer or river recharge, • agricultural or • industrial use. • “just clean enough”, • Nutrients saved, health better protected and costs cut deeply.

25. Mechanisms we need • Financial mechanisms – taxes, subsidies, concessions, etc. to encourage the extraction of resources from wastewater (when Wastewater is seen as a resource, the incentive package changes) • lending and capital market financing for new solutions • research awards for solutions now: getting pathogens out of sewage and leaving nutrients

26. It is clear that this has to be part of the solution….

27. Speaking about the unspoken • Wastewater irrigation is common in 3 of 4 cities in developing countries • Ca. 20 million ha are irrigated with raw or diluted wastewater (10% of Asia; 2 x Africa)

29. Another part of the solution…

32. Facilitating the impact pathway towardsadoption of safer irrigation practices Moving research into practice to improve health outcomes….

33. Raises difficult questions…bioresearch areas • Safe and productive use of wastewater Field level action research to enhance food safety • Integration of urban development, agriculture and the environment Modelling up- and downstream impacts of cities • Institutional capacity building for sustainable urban water resources managementMulti-stakeholder processes and policy support

34. To make the invisible risksvisible

35. Good Science needed now. ‚