This is the 3rd and final part of our series by Silvia Garcia Alonso on P2P responses to the water and energy crisis. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2

• Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness.
• Women spend 200 million hours a day collecting water.
• Three times more people lack water than live in the United States.
• The majority of illness is caused by fecal matter.
• More people have a mobile than a toilet.
• Lack of community involvement causes 50% of other projects to fail.

In a world where resources are finite, inequalities in access to these resources open insurmountable gaps.

Access to water, the greatest exponent of the commons, whose right should be guaranteed by all the constitutions and human right laws in the world, is not only uneven but in many cases nonexistent.

Water is the main source of life for humans, for crops, for the planet and although not everyone is aware of it, also for energy.

In a finite world, in which fossil fuel reserves keep diminishing, the logic of good will, indicates that we
should spend the reserves that remain to investigate alternative energy sources, renewable energy, but the problem is that the production of energy not only needs oil, but also requires water.

Some data on the amount of water required in energy production:

1. Soy-based biofuels require 6,000 times more water than conventionally refined petroleum derived fuel 
2. The corn-based biofuels require 1,000 times more water than conventionally refined petroleum derived fuel 
3. One barrel of Alberta tar sands consumes 185 cubic feet of water 
4. The average American home will withdraw 370,000 gallons of water and consume 15,000 gallons of water per year, if fueled by a coal plant. There are nearly 115 million households in the US. 
5. Carbon capture technology requires energy. If that energy comes from coal, it will increase water consumption in the US electricity sector by 80% by 2030. If the energy comes from a low-water intensity source it will still increase the water consumption by 40 – 50%. 
6. The 2005 Energy Bill exempted natural gas drillers from following EPA guidelines, such as disclosing the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
7. Solar thermal plants that use convetional cooling technology withdraw 98% less water from aquifers and rivers than coal an nuclear plants, but consume 85 and 270% more. 
8. The American Wind Energy Association says it saved 20 billion gallons of water in 2009, since wind power consumes less than 2 gallons per MWh produced. 
9. Hoover Dam output in 1999 was 5.5 billion KWh. Output in 2009 was only 3.7 billion KWh due to the severe drought as less water in the dam means less energy produced. 
10. The U.S. Energy Information Agency predicts a 40% increase in energy consumption by 2050. 

Therefore water is energy and as with other sources of energy, the contestants are taking positions to control the access and ownership of the fresh water; liquid wars are underway. The international lobbies coerce governments worldwide to accelerate the water privatization processes so that water stops belonging to the commons, to all of us, so that water goes into private hands, to large multinational energy and food corporations.

It is of key importance to keep fighting for the right to have water. It is vital that the water continues belonging to the commons and due to the imminent risk of losing that right, it is vital to have water sovereignty, to be self-sufficient in our freshwater needs, whether for consumption or for agricultural or energy.

To continue to read the full article go to http://binipei.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/water-crisis-path-to-p2p-water.html