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At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
USGS2022

Predicting coastal impacts by wave farms: A comparison of wave-averaged and wave-resolving models

Wave energy converters (WECs) will have to be arranged into arrays of many devices to extract commercially viable amounts of energy. To understand the potential coastal impacts of WEC arrays, most research to date has relied on wave-averaged models given their computational efficiency. However, it is unknown how accurate wave-averaged model predictions are given a lack of validation data and their inherent simplifications of various hydrodynamic processes (e.g., diffraction). This paper compares the predictions of coastal wave farm impacts from a coupled wave-averaged and flow model (Delft3D-SNL-SWAN), to a wave-resolving wave-flow model (SWASH) that intrinsically accounts for more of the relevant physics. Model predictions were compared using an idealized coastal bathymetry over a range of wave conditions and wave farm geometries. Both models predicted the largest impacts (changes to the nearshore hydrodynamics) for large and dense wave farms located close to the shore (1 km) and the smallest impacts for the small and widely spaced farm at a greater offshore distance (3 km). However, the wave-resolving model generally predicted somewhat larger impacts (i.e., changes to the nearshore wave heights, mean velocities and mean water levels). We also found that coupling the wave-averaged model to a flow model resulted in more realistic downstream predictions than the stand-alone wave-averaged model.

Renewable Energy↗
USGS2022

Aerial counts for surface-nesting seabirds at Lehua Island and Moku Manu Islet and Ulupaʻu Crater, Oʻahu, in 2019

Among important seabird breeding sites in the main Hawaiian Islands, Lehua Island offshore Niʻihau and Moku Manu Islets offshore Oʻahu support diverse and abundant seabird breeding populations. Both offshore islands provide excellent nesting habitat for surface-nesting boobies ( Sula spp .) and terns but, of the two, only Moku Manu supports relatively large breeding populations of Sooty Tern ( Onychoprion fuscatus ) and Brown Noddy ( Anous stolidus ). Additionally, Ulupaʻu Crater, near Moku Manu on Oʻahu, is one of only a few sites within the eight main Hawaiian islands and the only site on the main island of Oʻahu that supports a nesting population of Red-footed Boobies ( Sula sula ). Despite their importance for informing renewable offshore energy planning off Hawaiʻi, robust and accurate seabird population survey data exist and are available for some locations (Lehua; Raine and others, 2021), but at Moku Manu and Ulupa‘u Crater, recent information are not yet available (E. VanderWerf, written commun. 2021). In this study, we completed comprehensive aerial photographic counts at these three sites for six surface-nesting seabird species present during the 2019 breeding season: Brown Booby ( Sula leucogaster ), Red-footed Booby, Masked Booby ( S. dactylatra ), Great Frigatebird ( Fregata minor ), Sooty Tern, and Brown Noddy. We estimated 5,782, 102, and 1,446 nesting pairs of Red-footed Boobies at Lehua, Ulupaʻu Crater, and Moku Manu, respectively. At Lehua and Moku Manu, we estimated 692 and 65 nesting pairs of Brown Boobies, respectively. At Moku Manu, we estimated 95 nesting pairs of Masked Boobies, one of only three nesting locales for this species in the main Hawaiian Islands. Based on digital photograph counts of sampled areas and area-based extrapolation, we estimated 17,938 terns (mostly Sooty Tern with fewer Brown Noddy) on Moku Manu. We observed Great Frigatebirds roosting at the two island sites, but we did not detect any sign of nesting for this species. We found that inter-observer counts for behavioral classifications (nesting, roosting, unknown) ranged in precision (D=0.13–0.31), but generally, counts among photographs accounting for all seabird targets (D=0.10–0.22) and for boobies classified as nesting (D=0.13–0.18) were more precise than for roosting and unknown categories (D=0.13–0.31), indicating that at least some of the variation in count precision relates to differences in how independent counters identified behavioral classifications. The nesting population sizes (and number of terns present on Moku Manu) present during aerial counts likely are minimum estimates because individuals among these species can exhibit asynchronous nesting phenologies, and not all members of the nesting populations would be expected to be attending the sites when we surveyed. The results of these counts provide current and accurate abundance estimates for these species that can serve as benchmarks for future management and monitoring and as important components of population-level assessments aimed at quantifying seabird vulnerability to potential offshore wind energy development in the main Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaii↗
USGS2025

Impacts of onshore wind energy production on biodiversity

Wind is increasingly used as a renewable source of energy worldwide. However, harvesting wind energy can have negative consequences for biodiversity. In this Review, we summarize the growth of onshore wind power, its impacts on species and ecosystems, and how those impacts are assessed and mitigated. Across the construction, operation and decommissioning stages, wind facilities are associated with wildlife fatality and behavioural change as well as alteration, loss and fragmentation of terrestrial and aerial habitat. These negative consequences can be mitigated by avoiding construction of wind turbines at sensitive sites, detecting and deterring wildlife, curtailing turbines to reduce fatalities, and replacing lost habitats. Uncertainty about wildlife populations and their demographic parameters, the rate and extent of build-out of onshore wind energy, and best practices for mitigation, as well as variability in regulatory requirements by country or region, all contribute to the difficulty of predicting the consequences of this technology for biodiversity. Scenario-based modelling that incorporates population- and community-level consequences to biodiversity from varying degrees of wind energy development — including the cumulative effects of multiple facilities — is key to addressing this uncertainty.

Nature Biodiversity Reviews↗
USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey ecosystems science strategy—Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Executive Summary Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policymakers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, regional, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and nonrenewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decisionmaking is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and wellbeing of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decisionmakers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decisionmakers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge, and it integrates ecosystem science and decisionmaking, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. We envision the USGS as a leader in integrating scientific information into decisionmaking processes that affect the Nation’s natural resources and human well-being. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the Bureau can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and applying the results. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected components that reinforce our vision of the USGS providing science that is at the forefront of decisionmaking: Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decisionmaking about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. Support decisionmaking. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the four strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific USGS activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role in guiding sound decisionmaking during the next decade by advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Circular↗
USGS2017

Lithium

Lithium, the lightest of all metals, is used in air treatment, batteries, ceramics, glass, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, and polymers. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are particularly important in efforts to reduce global warming because they make it possible to power cars and trucks from renewable sources of energy (for example, hydroelectric, solar, or wind) instead of by burning fossil fuels. Today, lithium is extracted from brines that are pumped from beneath arid sedimentary basins and extracted from granitic pegmatite ores. The leading producer of lithium from brine is Chile, and the leading producer of lithium from pegmatites is Australia. Other potential sources of lithium include clays, geothermal brines, oilfield brines, and zeolites. Worldwide resources of lithium are estimated to be more than 39 million metric tons, which is enough to meet projected demand to the year 2100. The United States is not a major producer at present but has significant lithium resources.

Professional Paper↗
USGS2020

Introduction to this special section: Geothermal energy

Geothermal energy is a global renewable resource that has the potential to provide a significant portion of baseload energy in many regions. In the United States, it has the potential to provide 8.5% of the electric generation capacity by the middle of the century. In general, geothermal systems require heat, permeability, and water to be viable for energy generation. However, with current technologies, only heat is strictly necessary in a native system. Engineered geothermal systems (EGS) introduce water into the subsurface at elevated pressures and reduced temperatures and enhance permeability through hydraulic and/or shear fracturing. Additionally, although moderate- to high-temperature resources currently dominate geothermal energy production, low-temperature resources have been utilized for direct-use cases. When well balanced and maintained, geothermal resources can produce significant amounts of heat and achieve long-term sustainability on the order of an estimated tens to hundreds of years.

The Leading Edge↗
USGS2024

Predicting the effects of solar energy development on plants and wildlife in the Desert Southwest, United States

Utility-scale solar energy (USSE) is rapidly expanding and expected to compose the largest source of renewable-generated electricity in the United States and globally over the coming decades. Lands in the hot Desert Southwest (Chihuahuan, Mojave, Sonoran, and San Joaquin Deserts) are increasingly selected for USSE development because of their high solar irradiance. The Desert Southwest supports high biodiversity and provides many ecosystem services but is vulnerable to USSE disturbance and simultaneous stress from aridification and other growing land-use pressures. In this review, a framework is presented for predicting the effects of USSE development on plants and wildlife by linking disturbance types associated with USSE construction and operation to the traits and response strategies of species and guilds. Case studies from representative Desert Southwest species and guilds of conservation concern are used to: review known effects of USSE, predict unknown effects with the trait-based framework, and discuss mitigation strategies. This framework predicts that species with trait plasticity and broad ecological niches will be capable of exploiting USSE development, while species with specific habitat requirements and narrow niches will be more vulnerable. Opportunities for mitigation during development and operation that may lessen these effects are identified. This work is intended to inform USSE management decision-making and long-term planning, as well as encourage new research to test predicted effects and responses.

Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER)↗
USGS2025

A probabilistic assessment methodology for the evaluation of geologic energy storage capacity—Natural gas storage in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs

The need for energy storage, particularly underground, where capacity and duration may far exceed battery storage technologies, is especially relevant given the increasing demands for reliable power alongside the development of intermittent renewable electricity sources. Geologic energy storage facilities already exist, and expanded use would enable storing gases such as methane and hydrogen. In 2018, a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, “Future Directions for the U.S. Geological Survey's Energy Resources Program,” recommended that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) prioritize assessing underground energy storage in geologic formations in the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey has since developed a methodology for assessing natural gas storage capacities in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs on a national scale. The methodology introduced in this report prescribes three approaches for calculating gas storage capacity. This methodology relies on the availability of input data, including cumulative hydrocarbon production records, reservoir petrophysical properties, and reservoir pressure data. Assessment inputs can be obtained from public, State-level databases and propriety national-scale databases, although the use of analogs could be warranted for estimating input parameters. Probabilistic assessment results are aggregated to play, petroleum province, regional, and national scales. The steps defined in this report are demonstrated on the Michigan Basin Province, which includes the Mississippian Sandstone Gas Play and the Clinton Structural Play. This methodology could be used to systematically and consistently assess hydrocarbon plays and provinces for natural gas storage capacity across the United States.

Michigan↗
USGS2024

Immediate effect of floating solar energy deployment on greenhouse gas dynamics in ponds

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) solar energy offers promise for renewable electricity production that spares land for other societal benefits. FPV deployment may alter greenhouse gas (GHG) production and emissions from waterbodies by changing physical, chemical, and biological processes, which can have implications for the carbon cost of energy production with FPV. Here, we use an ecosystem-scale experiment to assess how GHG dynamics in ponds respond to installation of operationally representative FPV. Following FPV deployments of 70% array coverage, daily whole-pond GHG emissions increased by 26.8% on a carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO 2 -eq) basis, and dissolved oxygen availability rapidly decreased. Despite increased emissions following FPV deployment, FPV-derived GHG emissions from waterbodies are likely lower than landscape GHG emissions associated with terrestrial solar and hydropower production on a CO 2 -eq kWh –1 basis. Adaptive management strategies like bubbler installation may reduce the magnitude of FPV impacts on GHG and dissolved oxygen dynamics.

Environmental Science and Technology↗
USGS2025

Ultrasonic deterrents provide no additional benefit over curtailment in reducing bat fatalities at an Ohio wind energy facility

Wind energy is important for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions but also contributes to global bat mortality. Current strategies to minimize bat mortality due to collision with wind-turbine blades fall broadly into two categories: curtailment (limiting turbine operation during high-risk periods) and deterrence (discouraging bat activity near turbines). Recently, there has been interest in combining these strategies to achieve greater reductions in bat fatalities than either strategy might achieve in isolation. To investigate the effectiveness of combining curtailment with ultrasonic deterrent minimization strategies, we deployed six ultrasonic deterrents at nacelle height on 16 experimental turbines at Avangrid Renewables’ Blue Creek Wind Energy Facility. We rotated between four conditions (normal operations, curtailment only, deterrent only, curtailment and deterrent) randomly assigned to four wind turbines each night between 15 June and 3 October 2017. We found that bat mortality at wind turbines was independent of wind speed. The effectiveness of ultrasonic acoustic deterrents varied between high-frequency-calling species (eastern red bats) and low-frequency-calling species (hoary bats, silver-haired bats, and big brown bats). When deterrents were active, mortality was twice as high for eastern red bats compared to the control. Conversely, deterrents had a weak dampening effect on bat mortality for low-frequency species. We found no additive effects on mortality reduction for turbines operating both curtailment and deterrents compared to either approach in isolation. Our findings suggest that ultrasonic acoustic deterrents may not be effective for both high and low frequency echolocating bats. The increase in fatalities of eastern red bats is alarming and underscores the importance of considering site- and species-specific effects of minimization solutions.

Ohio↗
USGS2016

Estimating national water use associated with unconventional oil and gas development

The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP) goals are to provide a more accurate assessment of the status of the water resources of the United States and assist in the determination of the quantity and quality of water that is available for beneficial uses. These assessments would identify long-term trends or changes in water availability since the 1950s in the United States and help to develop the basis for an improved ability to forecast water avail- ability for future economic, energy-production, and environmental uses. The National Water Census ( http://water.usgs.gov/watercensus/ ), a research program of the WAUSP, supports studies to develop new water accounting tools and assess water availability at the regional and national scales. Studies supported by this program target focus areas with identified water availability concerns and topical science themes related to the use of water within a specific type of environmental setting. The topical study described in this fact sheet will focus on understanding the relation between production of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) for energy and the water needed to produce and sustain this type of energy development. This relation applies to the life-cycle of renewable and nonrenewable forms of UOG energy and includes extraction, production, refinement, delivery, and disposal of waste byproducts. Water-use data and models derived from this topical study will be applied to other similar oil and gas plays within the United States to help resource managers assess and account for water used or needed in these areas. Additionally, the results from this topical study will be used to further refine the methods used in compiling water-use data for selected categories (for example, mining, domestic self-supplied, public supply, and wastewater) in the USGS’s 5-year national water-use estimates reports ( http://water.usgs.gov/watuse/ ).

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2009

Thorium deposits of the United States — Energy resources for the future?

Many nations are exploring new ways to meet their growing energy supply needs, with a particular focus upon methods that produce lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional oil, natural gas, and coal power plants. As a result, thorium-based nuclear power has experienced renewed attention as a potential energy source. Thus, it benefits the United States and other countries to identify and evaluate their indigenous thorium resources. This report describes the geology and resources of the principal thorium districts of the United States.

Circular↗
USGS2011

Abbreviated bibliography on energy development—A focus on the Rocky Mountain Region

Energy development of all types continues to grow in the Rocky Mountain Region of the western United States. Federal resource managers increasingly need to balance energy demands, effects on the natural landscape and public perceptions towards these issues. To assist in efficient access to valuable information, this abbreviated bibliography provides citations to relevant information for myriad of issues for which resource managers must contend. The bibliography is organized by seven large topics with various sup-topics: broad energy topics (energy crisis, conservation, supply and demand, etc.); energy sources (fossil fuel, nuclear, renewable, etc.); natural landscape effects (climate change, ecosystem, mitigation, restoration, and reclamation, wildlife, water, etc.); human landscape effects (attitudes and perceptions, economics, community effects, health, Native Americans, etc.); research and technology; international research; and, methods and modeling. A large emphasis is placed on the natural and human landscape effects.

Idaho;Montana;Wyoming;Utah;Colorado;New Mexico;Ari↗
USGS2019

Adaptive management of flows from R.L. Harris Dam (Tallapoosa River, Alabama)—Stakeholder process and use of biological monitoring data for decision making

Adaptive management has been applied to problems with multiple conflicting objectives in various natural resources settings to learn how management actions affect divergent values regarding system response. Hydropower applications have only recently begun to emerge in the field, yet in the specific example reported herein, stakeholders invested in determining the best management alternatives for attainment of a suite of objectives outlined in a long-term adaptive management program below R.L. Harris Dam, a large, privately owned dam in Alabama. Stakeholders convened an objective-setting workshop to engage a governance structure and developed a decision support model to determine appropriate actions that optimized stakeholder values. The process led to implemented change in dam operation inclusive of incorporating hypothetical responses in system parameters to management. To account for the iterative loop of adaptive management, yearly monitoring of state variables that approximated many stakeholder objectives was performed from 2005 to 2016 and data collected were incorporated into the decision model. Specific analysis of fish and macroinvertebrate population responses indicated a less than satisfactory response for some stakeholders to the flow-management changes at the dam. Uncertainty regarding the best management to provide adequate hydrologic and thermal habitats for fauna and boatable days for recreationists still exists. The project led to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process for renewing the license to operate the dam (beginning in 2018); adaptive management could be a viable path forward to ensure stakeholder satisfaction related to new management options.

Alabama↗
USGS2025

Evolution of permeability and strength recovery of shear fracture under hydrothermal conditions

Geothermal energy is a clean and renewable resource that depends on the ability to move water through hot rock. In many locations, the ability to move water through rock requires the presence of extensive natural or human-made systems of fractures. However, these fracture systems are influenced by a variety of complex processes that occur at the temperature and pressure conditions found in geothermal reservoirs. To make geothermal systems more efficient, it is important to understand how these fractures evolve over time in response to these processes. This study explored how fractures in rock change under high-temperature and pressure conditions, like those found in geothermal reservoirs, through laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. In general fractures, tend to close due to pressure from the surrounding rock preventing the flow of water. One set of laboratory experiments revealed that fractures in granitic rock can weaken over time at elevated temperatures. These weak fractures can then slip slowly potentially keeping the fracture open for a longer period. This study also showed that at the highest temperature examined (250 °C) large differences between the chemical composition of the rock and the fluid moving through it could improve water flow temporarily likely due to the water dissolving parts of the rock. Flow rate predicted by models shows overall good agreement with the flow rate measured in our experiments but with some long time-scale variations that may be due to mechanical wear of the fracture surface. A second set of experiments found that, over the temperature range examined, the closure of fractures was caused by brittle failure driven by high stresses at points where fracture surfaces were in contact. This result suggests that fracture closure in geothermal reservoirs could be counteracted by maintaining high pore pressures. Additionally, we also tested a new method using electrical resistance to measure fracture closure in controlled systems with high precision.

Final Technical Report↗
USGS2024

New methodology for assessing underground natural gas storage resources – Example from Michigan Basin, United States

Energy consumption in the United States (U.S.) and across the world is shifting away from traditional fossil fuels like coal and oil, and towards natural gas and renewable sources, including hydrogen. Because gas demand is typically greatest during cold seasons and renewable sources sometimes produce variable supplies, it is important to store energy for use when demand exceeds supply. Whereas batteries and tanks typically store energy above ground, geologic (underground) storage may be able to retain much greater quantities of energy over much longer durations (e.g., Matos et al. 2019; Buursink et al. 2023). Consequently, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing a methodology to locate new geologic energy storage sites with an initial focus on depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs followed by estimates of associated pore space or gas storage capacity. Depleted hydrocarbon fields in Michigan Basin in the U.S. already host large quantities of injected natural gas (about 681 billion cubic feet of seasonal gas capacity in 42 gas storage facilities; U.S. Energy Information Administration 2024). Therefore, we used this basin as an example to assess potential new storage resources alongside existing storage capacity and carbon dioxide sequestration resources (e.g., Katz and Coats 1968; Haagsma et al. 2020). In Michigan Basin gas storage is taking place in reservoirs within several key hydrocarbon producing formations with different lithologies, including the informal Stray sandstone of the Michigan Formation and the pinnacle reefs of the Niagara Group (Gautier et al. 1995; Swezey et al. 2015). The assessment methodology introduced here consists of two steps relying on both well information and reservoir data.

Michigan↗
USGS2015

Vulnerabilities and opportunities at the nexus of electricity, water and climate

The articles in this special issue examine the critical nexus of electricity, water, and climate, emphasizing connections among resources; the prospect of increasing vulnerabilities of water resources and electricity generation in a changing climate; and the opportunities for research to inform integrated energy and water policy and management measures aimed at reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience. Here, we characterize several major themes emerging from this research and highlight some of the uptake of this work in both scientific and public spheres. Underpinning much of this research is the recognition that water resources are expected to undergo substantial changes based on the global warming that results primarily from fossil energy-based carbon emissions. At the same time, the production of electricity from fossil fuels, nuclear power, and some renewable technologies (biomass, geothermal and concentrating solar power) can be highly water-intensive. Energy choices now and in the near future will have a major impact not just on the global climate, but also on water supplies and the resilience of energy systems that currently depend heavily on them.

Environmental Research Letters↗
USGS2003

Use of the Legal-Institutional Analysis Model to assess hydropower licensing negotiations

In the United States, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is responsible for issuing or renewing licenses for hydropower projects owned and operated by power companies. During the licensing process, these companies are required to consult with agencies and other parties that are affected by project operating regimes. Typical participants include state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, environmental interest groups, and the FERC. One of the most difficult tasks facing participants is to reach agreement about what kinds of environmental conditions should be placed on license. Researchers at the United States Geological Survey developed a model to analyze the institutional context of natural resource disputes. The Legal-Institutional Analysis Model (LIAM) is a computerized model that allows an analyst to determine the likely behavior of each organization in a conflict. The model also analyzes the types and levels of negotiating power held by each organization. Researchers at the USGS have used the model in several cases involving hydropower license applications. To use the model, they facilitate workshops for stakeholder groups in order to develop a shared understanding of the likely obstacles and opportunities for successful resolution of the issues. This allows a systematic workshop analyses to develop strategies for successful negotiations, because they are able to better understand the negotiation problem and work more effectively with both their allies and their competitors.

Conference Paper↗