The United Nations said in a report that increasing demands for water and energy threaten the limited supply of Earth's resources.
Richard Connor, lead author of the report, said to a news conference on Tuesday that supplies of water and energy are interdependent, since water is required to produce almost all types of energy, according to USA Today. Connor added that growing competition for resources could result in legal conflicts and social disruption.
The report on Friday pushed for companies to take more actions to limit the use of water for sources such as cooling coal-fired power plants, producing biofuels and irrigating crops, Reuters reported.
"Demand for energy and freshwater will increase significantly in the coming decades," U.N. agencies said in the World Water Development Report. "This increase will present big challenges and strain resources in nearly all regions."
The reported stated that almost 768 million people around the world don't have access to safe water and 2.5 billion live without safe sanitation, according to RT. Over 1.3 billion people globally still don't have access to electricity, and almost 20 percent of aquifers are currently depleted.
Global demand for water was estimated to rise by about 55 percent by 2050, mostly due to increasing demand from thermal electricity generation, manufacturing and domestic use, USA Today reported. Energy demand around the world is also expected to increase by over one-third by 2035, with China, India and Middle Eastern countries being responsible for almost 60 percent of the growth. The report added that demand for electricity is estimated to rise by about 70 percent in the same period.
"This enormous increase in the demand for energy and electricity in particular will place tremendous pressure on already limited water sources," Connor said, referring to the declined supply of the planet's groundwater and the 20 percent of the source currently being extremely abused.
The study said that there were ways that energy can recycle water, such as buses and taxis in Stockholm that run on biogas produced from methane-rich waste water, Reuters reported.
Connor also discussed the solution to the growing demand and abuse of resources, USA Today reported.
"The only way to achieve both water and energy security is to have a massive transition toward non-water intensive forms of energy and electricity production," Connor said. "Greater support for the development of renewable energies like wind, solar and geothermal energy are critical for this."
