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Fossil Fuel, Nuclear Impact On Water
The U.S. is in the midst of the worst drought in 60 years. This is having significant impacts on corn, soybean and ethanol supplies and prices, and scorching pastures and grasslands that ranchers rely on to feed their cattle. Congress recently recessed for their summer break without passing any legislative aid to afflicted farmers and ranchers.
To make matters worse, farmers and ranchers face fierce competition for precious water supplies from one of the country’s largest freshwater users: the energy sector.
Fossil fuel and nuclear power plants generally need large amounts of water to drive turbines and cool power plant parts. One report, released earlier this year by the River Network, a water conservation group, states that coal, nuclear and natural gas-based electricity generation use over 16,000, 14,000 and 6,600 gallons of water per MWh produced, respectively, on average in the U.S. The average American household uses almost 1 MWh of electricity every month. Some of this water is reused, some is consumed and not returned to the natural water source.
In states dealing with the fracking boom, farmers also have to compete with drilling companies for precious water supplies. Earlier this year in Colorado, where over 73% of the state reported extreme drought conditions as of July 31, 2012, farmers who were already anticipating a dry season lost the bidding war on unallocated water supplies (ie, supplies not going to cities and counties) to companies that provide water for fracking activities. Farmers in the state had previously faced little to no competition for access to unallocated water supplies.
Not only does a water-intensive energy generation portfolio pose threats for farmers, it also carries risks for electricity consumers and the generation infrastructure itself. If water is in short supply, and especially water at cool enough temperatures, power plants are forced to pull back generation levels, risking instability during summer hours when demand can be highest. In addition, nuclear power plant safety relies heavily on cool water supplies.
I have already written about the positives of expanding energy generation with renewable sources, and this highlights yet another reason. In the River Network report mentioned above, wind and photovoltaic solar-based electricity use just over 60 and 230 gallons per MWh produced in the U.S., respectively. That’s a fraction of the water-use footprint that coal, nuclear and natural gas power carry.
As our population and water demands grow, renewable energy sources like wind and solar offer greater long-term stability than fossil fuel and nuclear sources when it comes to managing our precious water supplies.
Posted in Economic Development | Related Topics: Agriculture Energy Environment Lakes & Rivers
4 Comments
August 9, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Hi Mike.
Google “How safe is France’s nuclear industry” for some information on ways it is quite dangerous. Such as shipping depleted fuel by rail to another country for re-processing. Or shipping waste by rail to (I believe) Siberia, where it is sometimes stored in casks above-ground.
August 9, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Yes, rain & no wind inhibits electrical production & hot weather inhibits electrical ouput from nuclear by alot. Also where do you store the waste. New Mexico does not want our waste. Big money is avoiding nuke plants because they cost too much & do we want to end up like Japan if there is an accident. Build wind plants where it is windy all the time & solar where it is sunniest. All are parts of a large puzzle to give us power.
August 9, 2012 at 7:40 am
Water is the one resource that we have exactly how much there was the day the planet was created. It just changes shape for lack of a better word. Power plants use water to create steam, but the water does not disappear, it just has changed its form.
While some parts of the country have to little, other parts have to much and other parts are just where thy should be for rain.
This morning I woke up and it was raining and not even a small breeze. How much electricity would my solar panel or wind turbine be making today? We need reliable sources of electricity not just for our homes, but for our schools and our businesses. France is over 85% nuclear and we are only about 15% nuclear. We need to build 15 new plants in the country over the next 15 years. A power plant has hundreds of new employees when it is done and thousands during construction.
Will Nissen says:
August 10, 2012 at 8:34 am
Just saw this news that Iowa’s only nuclear power plant has to dredge the Cedar River, already dry from severe drought, to have enough water to operate in the extreme heat the state has faced.
The plant usually draws 6,000 gallons of water per minute, according to the article, from a river already low on water.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/viewart/20120810/NEWS/308100038/Nuclear-plant-dredge-Cedar-River