RATIONALE

This target deals with one aspect of the water energy nexus : the energy needed to abstract , transport and treat potable water and urban waste water .

Water supply an sanitation (WSS) are not among the most important activities in terms of energy consumption and Greenhouse Gases emissions , except in specific situations like arid countries . Nevertheless , improvement of their energy efficiency is a relevant goal for three major reasons (at least) :

• WSS is an energy intensive sector , in the sense that power represents the first variable cost component (between 10 and 30% of the total cost) . Therefore investments in energy savings may be cost effective , hence improve affordability for the poor fraction of the population . This issue will become all the more important as an increase of the cost of energy is likely in the future .

• Climate change is a challenge for WSS services . On the one hand , they are concerned by adaptation , since in many regions they will be among the first activities impacted . But on the other hand , they have to “do their homework” and contribute to mitigation efforts , notably by minimizing their energy consumption . Energy efficiency of urban services is part of the “Agenda 21” of many local authorities .

• Some wastewater utilities have demonstrated that a “zero-carbon-footprint” is possible due to energy recovery and synergies with other sectors (co-digestion of organic waste, power generation from biogas, heat recovery to district heating,..) The degradation of water resource quality will imply higher energy requirements for drinking water conveyance and treatment , as well as more stringent standards on waste water discharge will impose additional , energy consuming waste water treatment processes ; in some regions increasing water scarcity will mean increased recourse to non conventional water sources like desalination . Thus , balancing water and energy imperatives will require complex trade offs .

DESCRIPTION AND SCOPE

The scope of this target is limited to WSS services for municipalities ; it does not include other water uses , so as to remain specific and involve a limited number of stakeholders , notably public authorities responsible for WSS (in most of case local governments) , public and private operators , consumers and citizens associations . In order to be measurable through a relatively simple indicator , the target (proposed in the title) will be on energy efficiency rather than on carbon footprint , the latter being more comprehensive in terms of climate change mitigation , but less easy to measure .

The target indicator will be limited to energy consumption in municipal systems , nevertheless efforts to reduce energy consumption in private equipments (eg hot sanitary water ) will also be mentioned , since the margin of progress in this field is bigger .

The focus will be on voluntary agreements (decided either by local authorities and /or utilities) , since the ultimate objective is to boost / scale up commitments .