Unlocking the energy-water interdependency through bio-augmented treatment of produced water for agricultural re-use and aquifer recharge

The supply and demand for energy and water within the US is increasingly intertwined. Several examples of this include the large volumes of water consumed by hydraulic fracking, the reliance of energy-intensive groundwater pumping in agriculture, and the significant water and power demands needed to support data center operations. While produced water from oil and gas extraction could help alleviate these demands, current treatment technologies are prohibitively expensive due to their high energy intensity. These cross-sector energy-water interdependencies mean that failures in either water or energy systems can have cascading effects across multiple sectors, leading to widespread system failures.

Near-Term Opportunities: The interdependencies between water and energy create opportunities to improve resilience by reducing demands or boosting supplies across sectors. Three priority research areas include: 1) Bio-augmented water treatment: Leveraging microbes and biomass resources to develop integrated systems for treating produced water while generating energy, such as through microbial fuel cells and desalination. 2) Aquifer recharge: Developing data-driven models to assess the potential of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) to augment water supplies for energy-intensive applications like data centers and thermoelectric power. 3) Precision agriculture: Combining remote sensing, advanced sensors, and AI modeling to optimize irrigation timing and volumes, improving water use efficiency and reducing the energy footprint of agricultural water systems. These interdisciplinary efforts can help decouple water and energy demands, building resilience across the nexus.

Success Measures: Success would be measured as follows, per each of the three research activities. 1) Produced water treatment: cost reductions, lower environmental impact, energy-water decoupling. 2) Aquifer recharge: maps and data products, accuracy/transferability, usability. 3) Water conservation in agriculture: water use, accuracy, transferability.