Hearing of the House Committee on Science and Technology - Technology Research and Development Efforts Related to the Energy and Water Linkage

Statement

Hearing of the House Committee on Science and Technology - Technology Research and Development Efforts Related to the Energy and Water Linkage

Opening Statement By Chairman Brian Baird

Good morning and welcome to today's hearing on Technology Research and Development Efforts Related to the Energy and Water Linkage.

I would like to welcome our expert panelists who will discuss the ongoing RD&D activities to develop technologies that will help us to avoid disruptions in supplies of these two vital resources.

Climate variability and demand growth affect both our water and energy resources, and it is critical that we acknowledge that interdependency and develop technologies and adopt practices that allow us to manage these resources most effectively.

If new power plants continue to be built with today's technologies, consumption of water for electrical energy production could more than double by 2030 from 3.3 billion gallons per day in 1995 to 7.3 billion gallons per day.

During the last Congress and continuing into this year, the Committee brought attention to water supply challenges through a series of hearings and passage of several pieces of legislation.

Additionally, during the last Congress Chairman Gordon requested that the Government Accountability Office undertake several analyses to explore the relationship between energy and water resources. We are pleased to have GAO here today to talk about some preliminary findings of their work.

We have tended to think about these two essential resources independently. However, the strong linkage between water and energy requires that we make a more concerted effort to ensure that water and energy technologies are being developed synergistically.

Again, I would like to thank the witnesses for their participation today and I look forward to your testimony.

Source