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The water footprint of consumption in the UK Prof. dr. Arjen Hoekstra University of Twente – the Netherlands www.waterfootprint.org
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Overview - Freshwater scarcity & pollution - The water footprint of - our daily commodities - meat - bio-energy - What can we do?
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Coto Doñana National Park, southern Spain Strawberries for export Signs of global water scarcity
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Former Aral Sea, Central Asia Cotton for export Signs of global water scarcity
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Soybeans, deforestation, Mato Grosso, Brazil It takes 1430 million m 3 of water per year to produce soybean in Brazil for export to the UK. (equiv. to more than 0.5 million Olympic swimming pools) Signs of global water scarcity
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Signs of global water pollution
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The total water footprint of a consumer in the UK ► about 3% of your water footprint is at home. 150 litre/day ► about 60 to 65% of your water footprint lies abroad. ► about 97% of your water footprint is ‘invisible’, it is related to the products you buy in the supermarket. 3400 litre/day for agricultural products 1100 litre/day for industrial products
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Green water footprint ► volume of rainwater evaporated. Blue water footprint ► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated. Grey water footprint ► volume of polluted water. The water footprint of a product
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Global water footprint of UK consumption 62% of the UK water footprint is outside its own borders [Chapagain & Orr, 2008]
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[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
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99% of the total refers to water consumed in producing the feed
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[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
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Meat versus vegetarian diet Meat dietkcal/daylitre/kcallitre/day Vegetarian diet kcal/daylitre/kcallitre/day Industrial countries Animal origin 9502.52375 Animal origin 3002.5750 Vegetable origin 24500.51225 Vegetable origin 31000.51550 Total34003600Total34002300 Developing countries Animal origin 3502.5875 Animal origin 2002.5500 Vegetable origin 23500.51175 Vegetable origin 25000.51250 Total27002050Total27001750
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Meat versus vegetarian diet Meat dietkcal/daylitre/kcallitre/day Vegetarian diet kcal/daylitre/kcallitre/day Industrial countries Animal origin 9502.52375 Animal origin 3002.5750 Vegetable origin 24500.51225 Vegetable origin 31000.51550 Total34003600Total34002300 Developing countries Animal origin 3502.5875 Animal origin 2002.5500 Vegetable origin 23500.51175 Vegetable origin 25000.51250 Total27002050Total27001750
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Meat versus vegetarian diet Meat dietkcal/daylitre/kcallitre/day Vegetarian diet kcal/daylitre/kcallitre/day Industrial countries Animal origin 9502.52375 Animal origin 3002.5750 Vegetable origin 24500.51225 Vegetable origin 31000.51550 Total34003600Total34002300 Developing countries Animal origin 3502.5875 Animal origin 2002.5500 Vegetable origin 23500.51175 Vegetable origin 25000.51250 Total27002050Total27001750
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Industrial systems Mixed systems Grazing systems Water footprint: mostly green local Water footprint: green & blue partly imported Water footprint: green & blue local
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Water footprint of biofuels from different crops [litre/litre] [Gerbens-Leenes, Hoekstra & Van der Meer, 2009]
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Transport modeEnergy sourceCrop source WF (litre per passenger km) AirplaneBiodiesel Rapeseed 236-492 Bio-ethanol Sugar beet 65-136 CarBiodiesel Rapeseed 109-355 Bio-ethanol Sugar beet 36-212 BusBiodiesel Rapeseed 111-154 Bio-ethanol Sugar beet 31-43 TrainBio-electricity Maize 8-19 Electric carBio-electricity Maize 11-13 WalkingSugar Sugar beet 4.4 BikeSugar Sugar beet 1.7 Water footprint of transport when fueled with bio-energy
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What can we do?
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Shared terminology & calculation standards Product transparency Benchmarking Quantitative footprint reduction targets for both own operations and supply chain Reducing humanity’s water footprint – Companies Global standard Feb. 2011
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Embed water footprint assessment in national water policy making. Promote coherence between water and other governmental policies: environmental, agricultural, energy, trade, foreign policy. Reduce the own organizational water footprint Promote product transparency Reducing humanity’s water footprint – Government
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Stop waste of ‘blue water’ Towards precision irrigation Full water recycling in industries
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Increase water productivity in rain-fed agriculture Make better use of ‘green water’
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Grey water footprint zero Towards organic farming Towards zero emission
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