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Thermopower Shift
Electrical generation in the United States uses more water than any other economic sector except agriculture. Half of the 410 billion gallons of water withdrawn daily from rivers, lakes and streams is used to cool coal, gas, biomass as well as nuclear power plants. Some eight billion gallons a day is consumed in mining coal, producing natural gas and through evaporation.
Many regions of the country face a significant choke point at the place where rising demand for electricity—30 percent by 2035, according to the Energy Department—meets diminishing supplies of fresh water. The Southeast, Southwest and Rocky Mountain West are already experiencing the pain as swift population growth collides with lower freshwater reserves.
Global climate change is reducing moisture in the West and producing erratic periods of severe drought and flooding the South.
Further complicating matters is the nation’s steady move to eventually require fossil fuel-burning power plants to install carbon capture and storage technology that would increase water use up to 90 percent in some coal-burning plants, according to the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Even highly-touted non-carbon energy sources such as nuclear and concentrated solar thermal need water to operate. Options for less water-intensive electrical power exist, such as wind and solar photovoltaics, but each have their own drawbacks including slow rates of adoption and the need for new powerlines that often are opposed by communities.
Scientists and technical specialists predict that water withdrawals will decrease and but water consumption will rise as more expensive, yet less water-intensive wet cooling systems become more prevalent. The shift will still increase competition for already scarce water supplies.
Feature Stories
Power plant that moves torrent of water uphill considers closing
Southeast could learn from Southwest
Utilities feel pressure from more users and less water.
Thermopower Stories
Water policy and energy policy must be integrated, according to the International Water Association
The push for renewable energy through low-carbon alternatives could further compromise water resources
More now than ever, the American West is realizing the binary nature of energy production and water delivery.
Without sufficient nuclear power, dirty and expensive coal might be the only alternative.
Protesters from Texas made their way to Chicago to demonstrate against a new nuclear plant
They may not be gas-guzzlers, but electric cars have a raging thirst for water.
Government
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Energy and Water: Implications for Energy Development, A Look at Thermoelectric Demand for Water (April 2010)
- Georgia State Legislature Georgia Water Stewardship Act 2010
- Government Accountability Office Improvements to Federal Water Use Data Would Increase Understanding of Trends in Power Plant Water Use (October 2009)
- National Renewable Energy Lab Consumptive Water Use for U.S. Power Production (December 2003)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Concentrating Solar Power Commercial Application Study: Reducing Water Consumption of Concentrating Solar Power Electricity Generation
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Existing Plants, Emissions and Capture-Setting Water-Energy R&D Program Goals (May 2009)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Existing Plants, Emissions and Capture-Setting Water-Energy R&D Program Goals (May 2009)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Impact of Drought on U.S. Steam Electric Power Plant Cooling Water Intakes and Related Water Resource Management Issues (April 2009)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Water Utilization in Thermoelectric Power Plants (2006)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) An Analysis of the Effects of Drought Conditions on Electric Power Generation in the Western United States (April 2009)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Estimating Freshwater Needs to Meet Future Thermoelectric Generation Requirements (September 2009 Update)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Water Requirements for Existing and Emerging Thermoelectric Technologies (April 2009)
Academia
- Arizona State University, School of Geographical Sciences The Water Costs of Electricity in Arizona (December 2008)
- Dr. Bejamin Sovacool, Energy Law Journal 30:11 Running on Empty: The Electricity-Water Nexus and the U.S. Electric Utility Sector (2009)
- Dr. Benjamin Sovacool and Kelly Sovacool, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law 34:2 Preventing National Electricity-Water Crisis Areas in the United States (2009)
- Dr. Benjamin Sovacool and Kelly Sovacool, Energy Policy 37, Elsevier Identifying Future Electricity–Water Tradeoffs in the United States (March 2009)
- Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Department of Geography and Environmental Resources Water Use Benchmarks for Thermoelectric Power Generation (August 2006)
- University of Arizona, Water Resources Research Center Water-Energy Nexus: In a World of Limited Resources, Water and Energy are Inextricably Linked (Arroyo 2010)
- University of California-Santa Barbara: Bren School of Environmental Management Science, Southwest Hydrology California’s Water-Energy Nexus: Water Use in Electricity Generation (October 2007)
- Virginia Polytech Institute and State University, Virginia Water Resources Research Center Water Dependency of Energy Production and Power Generation Systems (July 2009)
Institutes
- Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Water & Sustainability: U.S. Electricity Consumption for Water Supply & Treatment—The Next Half Century (Volume 4, March, 2002)
- Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Water & Sustainability: U.S. Water Consumption for Power Production—The Next Half Century (Volume 3, March, 2002)
- Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Running Dry at the Power Plant (2007)
- Hewlett Foundation Energy Series Last Straw: Water Use by Power Plants in the Arid West (April 2003)
- National Wildlife Federation (NWF) More Variable and Uncertain Water Supply: Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for the Southeastern United States (2008)
- Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Water Use, Electric Power, and Nuclear Energy: A Holistic Approach to Environmental Stewardship (June 2009)
- Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) A policy organization for the nuclear technologies industry.
- Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Regional organization primarily focused on developing clean energy solutions throughout the Southeast
- Southern Environmental Law Center Drought in the South: Planning a Water-wise Future (September 2008)
- Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) On The Verge of New Water Scarcity: A Call for Governance and Human Ingenuity (March 2007)
- The Energy Foundation, Hewlett Foundation The Last Straw: Water Use by Power Plants in the Arid West (April 2003)
- Western Resource Advocates Water Use for Energy
- Western Resource Advocates A Sustainable Path: Meeting Future Water and Energy Demands in the Arkansas River Basin (Summary 2009)
- Western Resource Advocates A Sustainable Path: Meeting Future Water and Energy Demands in the Arkansas River Basin (Report 2009)
- Western Resource Advocates The Energy-Water Nexus: A Case Study of the Arkansas River Basin (Presentation: July 2008)
- World Resources Institute (WRI) Water and Watts in the Southeast, Southeast Energy Opportunities (April 2009)
Media
- Climate Progress The Secret to Low-water-use, High-efficiency Concentrating Solar Power (April 29, 2009)
- Global Water Intel Power Plants Continue to Suck US Dry (Vol 10, Issue 11, November 2009)
- High Country News Water Fallout: Utah’s First Nuclear Plant Won’t Float Without Water rRghts (March 1, 2010)
- The Wall Street Journal Water Worries Shape Local Energy Decisions: Scarcity Forces Electricity Companies to Rethink Power-Plant Plans, Providing an Opening for Renewable Sources (March 26, 2009)
