A comparative analysis framework for assessing the sustainability of a combined water and energy infrastructure

Ferhat Karaca, Paul Graham Raven, John Machell and Fatih Camci

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2015, vol. 90, issue PB, 456-468

Abstract: The evolution of infrastructure is a long journey that requires the concomitant advancement of associated sciences and technologies. Today’s disparate utility infrastructures could be the starting point for such a journey, from where future infrastructure may develop to a degree of perfection that will enable multifunctional use; thereby removing duplication, capital and operational cost and risk, improving sustainability. This paper presents a framework for a sustainability analysis of a futuristic idea, “City-Blood”, that proposes to distribute energy and water through a single infrastructure. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been used to analyse qualitative and quantitative data to determine the relative sustainability of several City-Blood implementations by comparing them against existing disparate electricity and water delivery systems. Each solution considers extreme economic, social, and environmental contexts that affect the need for the infrastructure and resource use.

Keywords: Water; Energy; Combined distribution; Integrated utility infrastructures; Hydrogen carrier; Emerging technologies; Futures infrastructures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:90:y:2015:i:pb:p:456-468

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2014.04.008

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