Bioazul attended the Water Innovation Europe 2019 edition “Water meets Energy, Energy meets Water” on the 11th and 12th of June in Brussels.

Water Innovation Europe is a conference organized by Water Europe, the recognized voice and promotor of water related RTD and innovation in Europe. This edition aimed to explore the interdependencies between water and energy services and offer synergy opportunities between the attendees.

The conference offered four panel sessions with keynote speeches and interactive discussions, which addresses the following topics:

• The common challenges.
• Water & energy services interlinkages.
• What the water & energy sectors can learn from each other and
• Actions required to achieve a Water-Energy Smart Society .

Antonia Lorenzo from Bioazul attended the event as member of Water Europe platform. She is also leader of the Water and Agrifood Working Group within the Cluster 9 - Water Smart Rural of the Water Europe. She participated in the activities related to her working group and she also joined to Renewable energy group and the conference. This was an opportunity for introducing the work carried out within SOCRATCES project and how it can be linked to other projects or policies that promote the Concentrated Solar Plants.

Some of the conclusions of the conference were:

• The actual challenge is not to optimise interlinkages between energy and water services delivery but rather to progress in terms of resilience, sustainability, and adaptability.
• By 2050, the demand for energy will nearly double globally, with water demand estimated to increase by over 50%. The challenge of meeting growing demand is further compounded by climate change impacts.
• Switching to a lower carbon pathway could, if not properly managed, exacerbate water stress or be limited by it.
• Synergies and collaboration for water and energy utilities is a necessary step for the smart city of the future.
• The increased fragmentation of the water sector, as well as governance and legal issues are the main barriers to this collaboration.
• To reach our decarbonization target, we need to reduce energy, use greener energy and preserve water as energy is water hungry and water is a finite resource.
• Saving water and energy is good for the planet and is good for business.