Matt Simmons continues to do excellent work on global energy supply.
His most recent presentation is entitled Twin Threats to Resource Scarcity: Oil & Water and was presented three weeks ago in Dubai.

Clearly, both water and fuel are vital to food supply chains (both local and global).

This slide deck is shorter than most (32 slides) and of course I don’t know the oral content which accompanied it.
But one underlying theme is this: nothing could unravel global security of energy supplies faster than disorder and conflict, and Simmons points to water supply as a growing threat to both civil order and oil supply.

Simmons begins by pointing out our inability to substitute for water or oil (slides 1-7), long-term concerns over oil supply (8-11), and the looming threat of water scarcity (12-16).

He then focuses on the Middle East for several reasons: its growing population, its precarious water supply, and its surging internal demand for energy… all of which point in one direction: diminishing export capacity (17-21).
If we factor in the underlying potential for disorder (eg. conflict with Iran, terrorist damage to major oil infrastructure), there is little justification for complacency, especially in import-dependent regions such as ours.

As for solutions, Simmons mentions two: proper pricing (slides 7 & 22) and ocean energy (24-29).

This presentation is available here:
http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/Marsh.pdf

Simmons’ focus on the nexus between energy and water provides an effective complement to the ongoing work of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which has undertaken a multi-stage (and quite detailed) analysis of this nexus.
Part one on biofuels was reviewed here (Dec. 09):
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/50988

The GAO’s study of water and oil shale should be released soon.