Via River Network, some thoughts on a new report examining the water footprint of power generation:
What goes into our grid matters a lot. Thermoelectric energy is the fastest growing use of water in the country. Reservoirs used for hydropower evaporate more water than all of the cooling towers in the country combined. Looked at together, the Water Footprint of Electricity in this country is 42 gallons of water — used, withdrawn, consumed and polluted — for every kilowatt hour generated.
On a personal basis, in 2009 it took 40,000 gallons of water to power the average U.S. household for a month. That is five times more than that average household’s direct residential water use. When we worry about the sustainability of our water resources, let’s not forget that this is a choice we are making — not because it is necessary — but because clean water has no voice in our electric energy decisions.
If clean water had a voice, it would say shut down old “once-through” cooling systems on coal, nuclear and other thermoelectric plants that use up to 37,000 gallons of freshwater to produce a single MWh of electricity. The thermal pollution, toxic algae blooms and loss of aquatic life cannot be calculated by the kilowatt, but is too high. If clean water had a voice, we would be required to seek the highest energy-return-for-water-invested technologies and renewable energy sources such as wind and PVsolar. If clean water had a voice, people would know that energy conservation IS water conservation, and that a powerful way to secure our drinking water supplies is to invest in energy efficiency.
The Burning Our Rivers report, authored in part by me and part by the great fact-finding team of Bevan Griffiths-Sattenspiel and Travis Leipzig, challenges us to find a new path. It lays out dozens of specific recommendations for changes in how we plan for our energy future, protect our water resources, and conserve energy and water at the same time. There are things that need to be done at the federal, state and watershed level. And things that need to be done site by site, river by river, to help reduce the Water Footprint of Electricity. 42 gallons per kilowatt hour is not sustainable, and could theoretically be reduced by an order of magnitude through low-water renewables and effective cost-benefit analysis of existing and proposed dams. The thermoelectric and hydroelectric systems that we use to power our grid will not be there forever, listening to our rivers, hearing the voice of clean water, and protecting the biological integrity of our waterways, will help us through that transition.
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