Abstract
Water and electricity have a unique relationship in the modern world as one requires the
other in a complex system of networks to supply the utility to the customers. This energy–water
interaction is especially peculiar in the Gulf Cooperation Council, where there are limited water
resources, but extremely high use rates. Qatar provides a unique case in terms of extreme water
scarcity and excessive water use. To understand the intricate network, this paper establishes an
updated and comprehensive qualitative model of the water system in the country with the help of a
water balance and system dynamics (causal loop diagram) methodology. Regression estimates are
then used to estimate future water and energy consumption in addition to carbon dioxide emissions
until the year 2050. Finally, system dynamics (stock and flow diagram) is used to determine the supply
impacts of efficiency policies including limiting of groundwater abstraction to only 50 million m3
,
reduction of water consumption in the household, commercial and industrial sector by 10%, and
gradual increase in the share of reverse osmosis (RO)-produced desalinated water to 50% in order to
assess the supply volume, electricity consumption and CO2 emissions. The efficient use of water in
different sectors of the economy results in a combined saving of 1222 GWh (8.1%) or 594,000 tons
CO2
. Furthermore, by moving to membrane-based desalination technology energy consumption and
carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by 3672 GWh (24.3%) and 1.8 million tons CO2
, respectively.
Further results suggest that while replacing groundwater with desalinated water can increase the
energy consumption significantly, reuse of treated wastewater has almost the same footprint as
groundwater, but can increase the resilience of the system considerably as groundwater abstraction
levels are lowered to their renewal rates.
Keywords
System dynamics
Water-energy nexus
Energy policy
Energy efficiency