Water resources in biological production
New solutions solve global lack of clean water
Efficient handling of extreme precipitation, treatment of water from agricultural fields, reclaimed water for food production, new irrigation technologies and forests giving us more water.
These are just a few of the solutions which LIFE’s elite research area ‘Water resources in biological production’ is focusing on. The need for water increases concurrently with a growing world population and rising food production, while pollution and climate change reduce the amount of water available.
We have asked anchorman Professor Hans Chr. Bruun Hansen seven key questions about LIFE’s elite research area ‘Water resources in biological production’:
- Why is the elite research area called ‘Water resources in biological production’?
- What are the challenges in the elite research area?
- What are the focal points of your research?
- How can students participate in the elite research area?
- Who benefits from your research?
- How can we keep up-to-date on your research?
- Who is behind the elite research area?
Why is the elite research area called ‘Water resources in biological production’?
Professor Hans Chr. Hansen replies:
“We are living on a blue planet. There is a lot of water on Earth, but only a fraction of that is freshwater. In addition, around 70% of the world’s freshwater resources are used in food production. Let me put this into perspective: The ‘water footprint’ for a single kilo of beef is approx. 20,000 litres – which means it takes 20,000 litres of drinking water to produce one kilo of beef!
Shortage of water is therefore an extremely critical factor in terms of being able to continue feeding the world population.
The use of crops to produce other than food – such as biofuels – further exacerbates the situation.
At LIFE, we focus on water in biological production because we have a very strong research environment in this area and because we need solutions that can handle Earth’s water scarcity in a sustainable manner.
The elite research area has emerged from the focus area ViVa (= Water Research Initiative), which is headed by Professor Peter E. Holm from LIFE.”
What are the challenges in the elite research area?
“The really big challenge is to procure sufficient clean water for a growing world population. We need drinking water, water for food, water for sanitation, personal hygiene and for industry – all without forgetting about nature.
There is a limit to how much water we can pump from nature without ecosystems breaking down. Even in Denmark, we are having problems supplying Copenhagen with sufficient water without lakes and rivers on Zealand drying out.
Prosperity leads to increased water consumption
Growing prosperity leads to increased water consumption, primarily because we can afford to eat more meat and consume more energy and resources, which all entail an inherent consumption of water.
We will be eight billion people on Earth in 2030, and the forecasts predict that about half of these – as many as four billion people – will experience severe water shortages.
You should also remember that water and energy are closely linked. Enormous amounts of water are used to produce energy.
Tasks of the elite research area
The challenges we will be working with to solve in the elite research area specifically include:
- Development of crops providing the most ‘crop per drop’
- New irrigation technologies and utilisation of ‘used’ water (urban and agricultural wastewater) in food production
- New water treatment methods and prevention of contamination from, for example, agriculture
- Recycling of water with a view to closing the urban water cycles
- Intelligent management of water resources based on ecosystem expertise and modelling
Sanitation and sewage systems also constitute an important focus area when trying to improve public health and reduce the spread of waterborne diseases. This is a highly topical subject as around two billion people have no sanitation facilities at all today.
Saltwater desalination is currently making great strides, but still requires too much energy.
In addition, climate change is causing new problems – not just in terms of too little water, but also with too much water; water which is contaminated and which we are unable to store at the moment.
What are the focal points of your research?
Professor Hans Chr. Hansen replies:
“The elite research area is focusing on five areas: Water in urban areas, water treatment, recycling of water, irrigation technologies and water as food. In this context, modelling, management and economic instruments are a part of these areas. Let me give you a couple of examples:
The torrential rains this summer showed us once more that we need to take an innovative approach to urban rainwater. We are therefore working to develop solutions which can handle the rain.
In this context, we incorporate the urban landscape and green technologies which can remove heavy metals, pathogenic bacteria and particles from the water.
In this way, the water can be used as a resource to create new groundwater, create better conditions for biodiversity and as a blue/green recreational element in urban settings.
Catalyst for more sustainability in urban areas
From an overall point of view, you might say that we are working, through a detailed planning and design process, towards making our solutions contribute to – or even drive – the conversion to sustainability in the urban areas.
In the open land, we are working on new technologies for treating drainage water. The leaching of phosphorous, nitrate, heavy metals and pesticides to the aquatic environment can be reduced by implementing biological and chemical drainage filters in the field (see, e.g., SupremeTech).
The search for good water quality
Water is our most important food. But what are we really drinking, and how does that depend on what is growing on the land? The groundwater under forests, for example, is cleaner than under agricultural areas, but is it also possible to taste the forest?
In our search for the land-use fingerprint, we study which substances provide taste. We are hoping to be able to ‘cultivate’ a specific, good water quality. Our current water quality concept is completely out-of-date, and we are facing the huge challenge of developing a new water quality concept based on up-to-date, analytical techniques.
Developing countries forced to use contaminated water in fields
Food cannot be produced without water. In many developing countries with water scarcity, it is likely that used, contaminated water will be used in agriculture to an increasing extent in order to produce food for their growing populations.
We are therefore now studying and developing new methods to treat contaminated water to make it safe to use it for watering crops.
This also entails that we develop new methods for efficient and safe supply of the water, e.g. subsurface drip irrigation. But also methods and technologies for the sustainable recirculation of water and nutrients in waste streams from urban and rural areas and back to the crop production.
New centre to gather LIFE’s competencies within the water field
We want to gather LIFE’s water competencies in a new Centre for Water and BioSystems.
An important, ongoing initiative concerns the development of the Danish/Chinese collaboration (SDC – Sino Danish Centre for Education and Research) within water and the environment in relation to the Danish university centre in Beijing.
Professor Peter E. Holm is heading the initiative, which comprises both an MSc programme and a PhD programme. The initiative complements other current activities in Asia and Africa concerning the use of water and food production.
CleanTech field in collaboration with industry
Another important goal is to expand the consortium for research on urban water cycles, where the focus is on climate adjustment, freshwater resources and integrated urban planning.
Moreover, we are planning to gather the research activities concerning water-saving technologies, environmental technologies and management tools in a CleanTech field with close ties to industry.
It is our hope that the University of Copenhagen will prioritise an overall water field, seeing that many of the University of Copenhagen’s faculties conduct water research. Overall, this could serve to further strengthen the University of Copenhagen’s profile in the field.
How can students participate in the elite research area?
Professor Hans Chr. Hansen replies:
There are many opportunities for LIFE students to get involved in water research.
The existing EnvEuro MSc programme and the MSc in Environmental Chemistry and Health programme have a heavy focus on water. This is also true for the landscape architecture programme. The new SDC programme Water and Environment also has a sharp focus on water.
On the EnvEuro and SDC programmes, you study at a university abroad for a period of time, which makes it possible to acquire knowledge about water challenges other than the ones known in Denmark.
The elite research area comprises approx. 80 researchers and lecturers, which means there are good opportunities for writing a BSc project, a thesis and completing PhD programmes within the subject. Currently, there are more than 50 thesis and PhD students working in this field.
Tap water better than bottled water
We will also work to promote a higher awareness at the University of Copenhagen of water consumption and the university’s ‘water footprint’. Just imagine if we could only use healthy tap water instead of water in PET bottles!
We think, as minimum, that there should be a higher awareness among the University of Copenhagen’s staff and students that using bottled water instead does not signal sustainability. Energy and plastic are used to produce the bottle, for transport and subsequently for disposing of the packaging. And, moreover, the water is no better than what we have on tap – and is sometimes even of lower quality.
Professor Hans Chr. Hansen replies:
“Safeguarding our aquatic environment is regarded as a public task – just think of the EU Water Framework Directive, one of the EU’s most ambitious attempts at regulating an interdisciplinary field through public administration.
Government agencies, municipalities, regions, the agricultural sector, city planners and consulting engineers are therefore important users of our expertise. However, a large part of the elite research area is targeted at new technologies, and, in this respect, we collaborate with companies specialising in water treatment and recycling, wastewater, manure treatment, drainage, water quality and analyses, irrigation, breweries/mineral water suppliers and water supply.
Denmark has a strong water industry. And we also have a relatively strong brand abroad, where the new technologies are primarily going to be used.”
How can we keep up-to-date on your research?
Professor Hans Chr. Hansen replies:
“An overview of activities in ViVa is available on ViVa’s website.
Several major projects and MSc study programmes have their own websites, e.g.:
The EnvEuro programme
Environmental Chemistry and Health
SupremeTech
Water in Urban Areas
Watering technologies and water management
And you are also more than welcome to read the many interesting scientific articles that we write!”
Professor Hans Chr. Hansen replies:
Kirsten Jenlev, - last update:29 September 2011