Water, energy and land must be considered together if technology innovation is to succeed

Aisling Irwin in SciDev.net: More technological innovation is needed to fight growing resource scarcity, but it will only be successful in achieving sustainable development if it considers the use of water, energy and land as interdependent issues, according to a European report.

Investment in innovation is required for sustainable agriculture, for achieving more efficient use of water and energy, and for rolling out renewable energy technologies, says the 'European Report on Development 2011–2012', funded by the European Commission and seven European states.

But failure to consider the three basic resources of water, energy and land as a 'nexus' — in which the use of one affects the availability of the other two — is leading to poor decisions that ultimately work against sustainable development, it says.

....The third in an annual series, the report, subtitled 'Confronting Scarcity', combines two strands of emerging thought. The first is that of absolute resource scarcity. Demand for energy and water is set to increase by 40 per cent in the next two decades, and demand for food — which will in turn be one of the factors increasing land demand — by 50 per cent. But there is not enough of these resources to meet the demand unless their management is transformed.

The second is that of the interconnectedness of resources, a phenomenon the authors believe is largely ignored in setting policy...

A community garden in Seattle, shot by Symi81, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Wildfire threatens South Carolina water treatment plant

Disaster News Network: A major wildffire that scorched more than 20,000 acres and destroyed nearly 70 homes in coastal South Carolina was threatening a water treatment plant Saturday morning despite efforts to fully contain the blaze. Weather forecasters were warning that gusty winds Saturday could spread the fire further. Fire officials said the fire was 80 percent contained Saturday morning and except for the treatment plant was not threatening any buildings.

On Wednesday, 2,500 people were forced to evacuate their Horry County homes as a coastal wildfire spread Thursday toward one of the busiest tourist destinations in the state: Myrtle Beach. Most residents returned home by Friday, but at least 69 homes were destroyed by the fire.

“There are just skeletal remains of homes,” said Public Information Coordinator Derrec Becker of the South Carolina Division of Emergency Management. “There have been a few reports of injuries, but we have been very lucky in that respect.’

Hundreds of firefighters, two dozen bulldozers and a water-dropping Black Hawk helicopter are being deployed in the area, but the fire continues to spread ahead of the work and Becker believes it may continue to burn for some time, noting that little short of heavy rains over a prolonged period of time will do anything to quench the fire….

Map of Horry County, South Carolina, by Paul E. Giroux (http://www.snobhollow.com)