UNESCO analyzes how energy and technology are involved in water crises

Water crises threaten world peace more than ever, according to UNESCOwhich in a report published this Friday how energy and technology They are increasingly hindering and burdening the exploitation of water resources.

Report Coordinator Richard Connorexplains that water “can contribute to prosperity”, where it is available “conflict is less likely”while when there is no access the consequences are “forced migration, food insecurity and impact on health”.

That is why Connor considers it crucial to analyze the economic importance of water in the world in which it is located “water stress” is the most significant in terms of climate change and in which “2.2 billion people do not have access to clean water”.

“There is no clear relationship between water and the level of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita,” but “only the richest countries can afford hydraulic infrastructure,” the expert points out.

Seven economic sectors are responsible for 70% of fresh water pollution in the world: food, textile, energy, industry, chemistry, pharmacy and mining.

As for energy, the authors of the report point out that wind and sun They have grown the most in the last decade, but in reality they still represent a “minimum share” compared to fossil fuels, which is why we are trying to accelerate the development rates of renewable energy sources.

Parallel to that, they note that the use of renewable energy sources consumes a large amount of water resources.

Lithium is one of the components that plays an essential role in the production of equipment for renewable energy sources, whether to drive vehicles or to store electricity from intermittent sources such as wind and sun, but it is a “big consumer and polluter” of water, “says the expert .

In fact, the production of one ton of lithium requires 2.2 million liters of water.

Something similar is happening with technological development and artificial intelligence that contribute to these processes, for example with cyber security systems that protect infrastructures.

The protection of these systems is in the hands of governments and large technology companies, which in their environmental studies admit that their water consumption has increased by up to 30% due to the need to cool electronic equipment, such as power bases.

By way of illustration, UNESCO points out that the third version of ChatGPT uses 700,000 liters of water per day.