Page - 5 - in Clean Water Using Solar and Wind - Outside the Power Grid

Water and energy – for all 5 the Sahara and the Sahel region can provide large areas with solar- powered electricity. In rapidly growing peri-urban areas electric power grids may be available but need to be complemented with decentralised energy sources. Solar and wind can be part of new hybrid energy supplies. It is noted that there is a confluence of factors, such as greater urbanisation, population increase and economic development that will determine the energy mix. The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals of “clean water” and “energy for all” are strongly related and will depend to a large extent on solar PV and wind. This is further explained in Chapter 3. 1.2 ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER More than 650 million people lack clean water. Without safe water and sanitation people get caught in a vicious circle of poverty and sickness. In the poorest societies in the world, it is mostly women and children who lose precious time in their search for water and in the transportation thereof. Children die from diarrhoeal diseases that can be prevented. Open sewers running right through villages are far too common. Water scarcity, poor water quality and inadequate sanitation have a significant impact on food security, educational prospects and other living conditions for poor families across the world. By 2050, the UN estimates that at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water. The UN (www.un.org) summarises some of the huge challenges: • 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services (WHO/UNICEF, 2017); • 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services (WHO/ UNICEF, 2017); • 340,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (WHO/UNICEF, 2015); World Economic Forum: lack of water is both an environmental risk and a societal risk. Downloaded from https://iwaponline.com/ebooks/book-pdf/520710/wio9781780409443.pdf by IWA Publishing user