Scotland's industrial water use : understanding recent changes and examining the future

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Allan, Grant J. and McGrane, Scott J. and Roy, Graeme and Baer, Thomas M. (2020) Scotland's industrial water use : understanding recent changes and examining the future. Environmental Science and Policy, 106. pp. 48-57. ISSN 1462-9011 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.01.005)

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Abstract

Future climate scenarios predict significant changes in the availability of water resources at global and regional scales. Knowledge of the possible economic consequences of this are limited by a shortage of data linking economic activity with physical water use. Matching a unique premise-level dataset to economic indicators at industrial/sector level, this paper undertakes a decomposition of changes in industrial water demand for Scotland between 2012 and 2016. Results highlight the importance of taking a sectoral approach, as changes in sectoral water intensity are significant. Furthermore, changes in the structure of the economy, i.e. a move away from water-intensive industries, highlight further reductions in overall water consumption. By considering future scenarios for Scottish water resources, this paper identifies key multi-disciplinary research challenges to address the major obstacles in developing a climate-ready water policy, which also captures the potential economic opportunities for Scotland from an awareness of the role of water in the economy.

ORCID iDs

Allan, Grant J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1404-2768, McGrane, Scott J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5277-1347, Roy, Graeme and Baer, Thomas M.;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)