Water and energy are intrinsically linked: we need energy to provide clean water (e.g. for wastewater treatment, desalination and pumping) and we need water to provide energy (e.g. for hydropower, cooling of thermo-electric power, concentrated solar power plants and biofuel production). Recent drought and heatwave events have shown the vulnerability of both the energy and water sectors, as the demand for the two and their systemic interdependencies are particularly strong. However, the interplay between clean water and energy under climate extremes is complex and poorly understood. With heatwaves and droughts occurring more frequently across the globe, we need improved understanding on how water–energy system processes cascade in time and space under a changing climate and changing extremes. This is urgently needed to develop water-management and energy-transition strategies that are also robust under increasing climate shocks. In the B-WEX Project, we develop spatially explicit pathways that reveal how the provision of clean water and energy can be balanced under various water-management and energy-transition developments, including the feedbacks and cascading mechanisms under present and future droughts and heatwaves in regions worldwide.

• dr. Michelle van Vliet
• Michele Magni MSc