The Global Water Challenge

Luc Nijs

Chapter 17 in The Handbook of Global Agricultural Markets, 2014, pp 443-468 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Water — as we know it — is a commodity, but that is about to change. Consumption patterns and levels, population growth, the need for energy, and changing climate patterns will all be arguments in that mix.1 This will ultimately mean an increase in demand for water — in the face of a limited supply of this key resource. Usage conflicts are inevitable and will become more acute on account of wasteful use and pollution. Investments in water infrastructure as a whole will have to increase over the next few decades to be able to satisfy the growing demand. Naturally, the focus of investment in industrialized countries differs from that in developing countries and emerging markets. Further, the question is how the relationship between public and private levels will emerge in terms of the investments needed to support this evolution and create sufficient supply. Also a mix of technological solutions will be needed to enhance supply levels and support reuse. Conflicting use will be almost inevitable, and the geopolitical dimensions are the great “unknown unknowns” in this story.2

Keywords: Reverse Osmosis; Biogas Plant; Domoic Acid; Desalinate Water; Gray Water (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-30234-2_17

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781137302342

DOI: 10.1057/9781137302342_17

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().