Water !

What an interesting subject was treated during this two hours lesson. And what an important subject also! I really enjoyed it.

what appears to be the most natural and available resource of the earth will probably be, in the same time, the most delicate and significant purpose of next century discussions. This is maybe the main point to remember from the lecture. And students seems to be aware of that, since 68% of the audience agreed, at the beginning of the lecture, with the next idea:

 

“If the wars of [20th] Century were fought over oil, 

the wars of the [21st] Century will be fought over water…

unless we change our approach to
managing this precious and vital resource”

Ismail Serageldin, World Bank Vice President in 1995

It could have been interesting to ask at the end of the lecture if the opinion of some students changed, but for my part it did not. We got a full overview of the involvement of water in different facets of the world.

Understanding climate changes begins with understanding water cycle.

A really interesting point of view was given about the renewable energy sources. Renewable energies is one of the most discussed subjects nowadays in the context of global energy needs, but what is less talked about is their implication with water. Who ever thought about the fact that 96,3% of the future renewable energy sources rely on water. Indeed, if it is obvious for hydropower, it is important to underline that Bioenergy needs water by the fact that plants needs water to grow.

This gives us a new way of thinking about water, which is not only a first necessity human resource, but also an indispensable tool for human activities. This highlights also the complex way we will have to deal with that resource, and which priority we will have to give to it. The question could be:

Energy growth, with economic background, or clear water for everyone, with health background?

I think the fight will be rude, because money is involved, and unscrupulous people will not hesitate to use water for their own business, instead of thinking "sustainable and social".