"There is an increasing potential for serious conflict between power generation, other water users and environmental considerations," the U.N. warned Friday in a report that shows how an increased demand for energy can put more pressure on the world's already strained water resources. The Guardian reports:

Energy production accounts for close to 15% of the world's water usage, but that figure could rise. By 2035, water use for energy is projected to jump by 20%, the report says. Water demand, meanwhile, could increase by 55% by 2050.

Much of this is due to growing populations and economies in China, India and the Middle East, says the report, which pulls together data from a range of studies. Some 90% of the global increase in demand for energy in the coming years will come from outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), club of rich countries, it notes.

...About 90% of power generation is water-intensive, says the report, which warns that less conventional oil and gas production, including via tar sands and fracking – along with biofuels – place particularly large demands on water resources.

The report laments that the energy sector has "great political clout", whereas water, as an issue and an industry, often lacks influence; it calls for greater co-ordination between the two areas. "There will be no sustainable development without better access to water and energy for all," the director general of Unesco, Irina Bokova, said.