More Energy Production = Greater Water Consumption

From a special energy report in the current issue of MIT Technology Review (two magazines that all engineers should read for their focus on the future - - Technology Review and Wired) - - Water Power.  The key point of the article - - decisions about future energy sources will need to factor in water consumption as well as greenhouse-gas emissions. 

The articles states:

"In the United States, energy production will account for almost 90 percent of the projected increase in consumption of freshwater between 2005 and 2030, according to Argonne National Laboratory.  Power plants that use nuclear fission or fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, consume billions of gallons of water per day for cooling.  Fossil-fuel plants that use carbon-capture technologies to cut carbon dioxide emissions consume even more water than conventional ones.  As for renewable energy sources, they present a mixed water-use picture.  While wind power and photovoltaic solar power use little water, solar thermal power - one of the fastest-growing renewable sectors - uses a great deal.  Biofuels from non-irrigated sources, such as switchgrass, use relatively little water, but ethanol made from irrigated corn is hugely water-intensive.  The water consumption associated with E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, ranges from 20 to nearly 1,000 gallons per 100,000 gallons per 100,000 BTU, depending on agricultural practices."

Look for a future in which the "hydro" in hydrofracking increasingly becomes a key supply issue in our national energy game plan.  The U.S. map detailed above illustrates the 36 states that face water shortages by 2013.