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The intersection of power and water

Steve Bolze, President and CEO of GE Power & Water, discusses the links between power and water at GE's "From Used to Useful" water summit.

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[[Steve Bolze-President & CEO, GE Power and Water] What I'd like to talk about a little ]

[bit here is some perspecitve of what's going on around the world,]

[we'll talk a little bit about what GE is doing,]

[and then how do we proceed forward in water reuse.]

[So with that, I have three key big ones.]

[The first one, as we look at this, is everybody's familiar with the global demand]

[for water and power.]

[We're going to get into some of the numbers,]

[but these issues are becoming more interlinked.]

[I was in Kuwait three weeks ago, and when you sit with the ministries,]

[the ministries are now more and more together.]

[It's 'Minister of Electricity and Water' around the world,]

[and those ministers can't move forward on new power plants, ]

[they can't move forward on new water plants]

[without them being together.]

[Water reuse is critical--I think we're all familiar with that one--]

[but it requires global policy, like what you just touched on Nat,]

[--some of those being tax incentives--project successes,]

[country successes, like what's going on in Singapore]

[as well as some of the ongoing public awareness,]

[and we'll talk about some of the activities there.]

[Third of which is reuse technology exists today. ]

[This is not something we have to wait for.]

[It exists today, however, we continue, as other companies do, to invest]

[to bring it to the next level and to global scale.]

[In terms of this issue around the water and power needs are more interlinked,]

[and that's--Michael--one of the things we had talked about ]

[back in March at the testimony]

[is 20% of the world's water is used for power production.]

[In those power applications, 90% is for one-through cooling.]

[It's not reused.]

[So, the big part of that is addressing that issue,]

[but if you step down into the fuel production area, ]

[oil sands--there are some people in the room from the Calgary area--]

[95% water reuse target is going to be a major issue going forward.]

[I would say a key part of that is new technology.]

[The governor last night talked about unconventional gas;]

[30% of that processed water after that process operation]

[is tough water that needs to be treated.]

[In terms of the mining applications of the world,]

[70% of those new mines are going into very water scarce regions]

[--Australia, Africa, other parts of the world.]

[So, energy production is a thirsty operation.]

[We're doubling the amount of investment we have]

[--MPI used one of those GE venaculars--]

[that's new product introduction, but that is doubling our investment]

[between now and 2012, and that's doubling ]

[on an anual basis.]

[The last thing I'd leave you with is]

[how do we close the gap on water reuse?]

[I think this is where we're going to spend really the good part of the rest of the day.]

[Advanced waste water reuse technologies:]

[It's not only about the processed water, ]

[but about treating the waste water streams.]

[In many cases as was heard, you need new technologies ]

[and deployment of those technologies.]

[The second issue is the one I hear from our customers]

[which is, "Tell me about the economics of the project."]

[--to the point of what's the value of water?]

[If I don't have to pay for the water,]

[then the economics of puting in a water reuse project is very difficult.]

[So, how do we step forward and clarify those economics?]

[Tax incentives are a piece of that, as well as awareness, as well as just the understanding]

[of that fact that some projects will not go forward unless you address the water issues.]

[Some of these issues like in the oil sands we talked about.]

[The last of which is--inside the fence but--proactive incentives and policy.]

[We have white papers that John Freeman and the team have put together,]

[but our view is that--that's something I hope to come out of this session--]

[which is maybe two or three common, unifying themes about how we step forward]

[Because in the end, the external world looks for our input as a manufacturer,]

[but they also want the perspectives of our customers,]

[the associations, and I think if we can be united]

[on two or three key things--and we're happy to host this session]

[to help facilitate that discussion--]

[I think that'll be the key path forward.]

[So, we structured the agenda around technology development,]

[economics of projects, and then what's the right level of policy we need going forward.]