Data Collection Surveys on the Cornerstones of the Water-Energy Nexus: A Systematic Overview

There is no doubt that energy and water are cornerstones of life and that they are closely related to one another. Climate change, population growth, and urbanization rates are dramatically driving demand for both energy and water. To understand the inextricability between these two basic necessities of life, a nexus approach has proven useful. This paper provides an overview of recent studies to understand energy and water use data collected from surveys of urban and rural communities. The paper reviews worldwide case studies of water and energy demand, and factors influencing consumption, including household characteristics, consumer behavior, and the relationship between technology and demand. The paper also looks into coupled water-energy conservation studies. This review finds that most research still treats water and energy separately rather than jointly in a nexus approach, due in part to sectoral fragmentation, but also to important differences in data structure, time scales, and applications. Data collection methodologies and data analysis techniques used in case studies are also summarized. They indicate that nexus methodologies are mainly applied to the supply side of the water-energy nexus, but not to the demand side. By coupling water and energy data collection and analysis, this paper provides insights for conserving water and energy, especially on the demand side. This paper thus serves as a systematic overview for future water-energy nexus data collection surveys and analyses.