Rubio Varas, María del Mar
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Rubio Varas
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María del Mar
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Economía
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INARBE. Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics
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Publication Open Access Freshwater for cooling needs: a long-run approach to the nuclear water footprint in Spain(Elsevier, 2017) Sesma Martín, Diego; Rubio Varas, María del Mar; Ekonomia; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; EconomíaFrom the invention of the steam engine to the present, water has represented a significant input to the energy system, although this has been mostly ignored in the literature. In Spain, the most arid country in Europe, studies about water footprint typically just consider domestic, agricultural and industrial water uses, but water requirements for the electricity sector are omitted despite our dependence on thermal power. It has been demonstrated that for each available cooling technology, nuclear needs and consumption of water tend to be larger per MWh generated. We calculate a first approximation to the Spanish nuclear water footprint from 1969 to 2015. Our results show that while water consumed by Spanish nuclear power plants are around 3 m3 per capita/year, water withdrawals per capita/year are around 70 m3. Moreover, our analysis allows extracting conclusions focusing on a River Basins approach. What is the water impact of our nuclear power plants? Will water limit our energy future? These are some of the issues at stake.Publication Open Access Nuclear power for a dictatorship: state and business involvement in the Spanish atomic program 1950-1985(SAGE, 2016) Rubio Varas, María del Mar; Torre Campo, Joseba de la; Economía; EkonomiaSpain was the first developing country to exploit a nuclear power plant commercially. By the early 1970s Spain had become the major nuclear client of the USA, the world’s largest reactor exporter. Despite its importance, historians are just beginning to revisit and establish the sequence of the events that make up Spain’s nuclear history. This article analyses the role played by the state in enabling one of Western Europe’s poorest countries to join the exclusive nuclear power club. In a departure from the technological approach used in previous literature, the history of Spain’s progress in the nuclear power field is retraced against the background of its political and economic evolution.Publication Open Access The weak data on the water–energy nexus in Spain(IWA Publishing, 2019) Sesma Martín, Diego; Rubio Varas, María del Mar; Ekonomia; Institute for Advanced Research in Business and Economics - INARBE; EconomíaThis paper focuses on the fact that the water–energy nexus remains an irrelevant issue on the energy policy agenda and on the priorities of the energy leaders in Spain. This is a striking fact given that this takes place in the most arid country in Europe, where almost two-thirds of electricity generation would have to be halted in the absence of an adequate water supply. We contend that part of the explanation may lie in the lack of official statistics and inconsistent sources of information on the water–energy nexus in Spain. To illustrate this point, we provide examples of the uneven data available for one of the most intensive freshwater users in the thermoelectric sector in Spain: nuclear power plants. Our research demonstrates the need for improved indicators as policy instruments in the water–energy nexus in Spain since it is impossible to improve what cannot be measured.