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January 8, 2016

Minh Le, Senior Advisor, OMB

New Frontiers in Environmental Science and Engineering for Climate Adaptation:

Applying MoonShot Thinking

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/136063main_bm4_high.jpg

SunShotInitiative

75% cost reduction by 2020

Pri

ceSunShot Goal

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MAJOR PROGRESS20GW 4,000,000

average American homes

At the end of 2014…

Enough to power

Solar accounted for

32% of all new electrical generation capacity installed in 2014.

8,000solar businesses

$17.8 billion: Value of the U.S. solar market

in 2014

SunShot: Growing Capacity & Economic Impact

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50% Solar systems costs are down

50% Since 2010

U.S. SOLAR JOBS HAVE INCREASED

86% SINCE 2010

6http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/1-bluemarble_west.jpg

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Mean global temperature rising

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ENERGY IS TO MITIGATION AS WATER IS TO ADAPTATION

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Climate Change & Water Supply

Source, Water Resources Chapter, 2014 National Climate Assessment, U.S. Global Change Research Program, nca2014.globalchange.gov

Extreme, Variable Precipitation

Changing Snowmelt

Intensifying DroughtCompromised Coastal

Aquifers

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Nature’s Timely Reminder!

• California drought is cited as the worst recorded in 1200 years*

* "How unusual is the 2012–2014 California drought?," Geophysical Research Letters, Daniel

Griffin and Kevin J. Anchukaitis, December 2014.

Groundwater Depletion

in the U.S., 1900-2008

(in km3)

• Cumulative depletion from 40 major

aquifer systems

• Results from Konikow, 2013

• Total depletion about 1000 km3

• About twice the volume of Lake Erie

• Largest volumes from High Plains,

Mississippi Embayment, and Central

Valley aquifers

• 25% increase from 2000 – 2008

• Measureable contribution to sea level

rise

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And the Flip Side – Too Much of a Good Thing!

Over four days in 2014 (Aug. 8-11) 70,000+ U.S. structures were damaged in the Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic.*

The number of flooding days in the U.S. has increased markedly since the middle of last century, by as much as 925 percent in Annapolis and 922 percent in Baltimore.**

* Global Catastrophe Recap, Aon Benfield, September 2014.** "‘Nuisance flooding’ an increasing problem as coastal sea levels rise," NOAA, July 2014.

Sea Level is Rising

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Sea Level Rise from satellite altimetry

(TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and Jason-2)

estimated by CNES, LEGOS and CLS.

http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/featurearchive/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=506

Security of the Nation’s freshwater supply is threatened

Climate change, acting concurrently with population growth, land use, energy use, and socioeconomic changes, increases water demand and exacerbates competition among uses and users of water.

Challenge 1:

Improve water use efficiency by 33%

– 16% leaks in public water systems

– US per capita water footprint is more than 2X higher than many other industrialized countries

– Agricultural practices and technology can further improve water productivity

– Energy sector has been moving away from once through cooling over the past 50 years

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Challenge 2:

Deliver cost competitive clean water from non-traditional sources such as seawater, brackish water, and municipal reclaimed water

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“If we could ever competitively, at a

cheap rate, get fresh water from salt

water this would be in the long-

range interests of humanity and

would dwarf any other scientific

accomplishments.”

--John F. Kennedy, 1962

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Desalination S&T Challenge

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Seawater Desalination Challenge

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What are the technology pathways that get us there?

$0.50/m3 Goal for Seawater Desalination

$2.00 /m3

$0.50 /m3

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http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/136063main_bm4_high.jpg

We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing that we discovered was the earth.

- William Anders (Apollo 8)