'Embedded Water' by Claire Kurtin

This is not necessarily a technology, per say, but rather a concept or economic system. Embedded water is the idea that everything we create takes a certain amount of water to manufacture, sort of the same thing as embedded energy, so therefore, when we ship a certain product, for instance, wheat (1300 cubic meters of water/metric tonne), we are also shipping 'virtual water' (the actual water content of a product is usually negligible compared to it's virtual water content). Every year, vast amounts of embedded water are shipped around the globe. Since the majority of the world's water usage consists of agricultural production, virtual water is especially relevant to agriculture.


The embedded water content of various agricultural products (in liters)

Though this trade in embedded water may just seem like part of the whole system, it could be the key to solving water shortage issues in drier parts of the planet. For instance, in the middle east, which is a very dry place, it would make sense to import water intensive products (such as wheat) and divert the 'surplus' water to the production of products with a lower virtual water content and therefore conserving scarce water resources. This may seem obvious, however, Australia, one of the world's driest countries, is the world's fourth largest exporter of embedded water. Australia exports 80% of it's rice and 98% of it's cotton (two very water instensive products).


Map of the world's exports of virtual water (brighter green = more exports, brighter red = more imports)

The virtual water content of products can easily be measured. In Australia, where fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce, it has been proposed that there be a tax imposed on food products with a higher embedded water content in order to encourage consumers to conserve water. This plan would also include some sort of labeling system similar to our Nutritional Information labels.

In a world where over population is becoming and increasing problem, and most of this population is concentrated in large cities, considering the embedded water content of the products we consume and produce could be a useful tool for dealing with water shortages around the globe.

Sources:
World Changing Team, "The Consequences of Embedded Water," last updated 08/08, http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008530.html (02/10/6:00 pm)

Frontier Economics, "The concept of 'virtual water' - a critical review", http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nrenfa.nsf/LinkView/A1F945CE4D56F40ACA257412002310642B72296A5108C4FFCA25734F0009F96F/$file/Virtual%20Water%20-%20for%20release%20-%20STC%2008-03-07.pdf (02/10/ 8:00 pm)

-Claire Kurtin