--
Over the years this point has been well understood and commented on
within the Peak Oil movement. It is a textbook example of why viewing
the world as separate systems, instead of a whole, always leads to
results that are destructive and do nothing to solve critical issues.
-- MCR
Water
Shortages May Leave Energy Producers Dying of Thirst
5
May, 2012
With
summer approaching, utility planners are devising ways in which they
would meet the demand for energy during the most pressing times.
Short term, they will consider whether they will have to dip into
their reserves and longer term, they will calculate whether they have
enough generation and transmission.
But
one thing that those companies are struggling with that is not making
headlines is whether they will have enough water. Energy production
is water-intensive and the vast supplies that are needed to run every
type of power plant — natural gas, coal, nuclear and renewables —
is not well understood.
“Water
is the new oil,” says Jim Rogers, chief executive of Duke Energy,
in a talk with this writer. When utilities formulate their energy
portfolios, they must take water availability into consideration.
Not
only do utilities use it. So does big industry and small residential
households. To compound the matter, the demand for electricity in
this country is expected to rise by 1.5 percent over the next 20
years. Governments and businesses alike are now calling for concerted
conservation efforts and technological advances.
The
debate is not theoretical and is already having practical
implications on both utilities and energy developers. A couple years
ago, the states of Georgia and Alabama battled over supplies during a
severe drought in the southeastern United States: Georgia’s Lake
Lanier, along with other bodies of water there, are providing water
not just to the Atlanta metropolitan area but also to Alabama’s
electric generators, manufacturing facilities and farm businesses.
The
National Energy Renewable Laboratory has reported that United States
alone withdraws fresh water to the tune of nearly 1,500 gallons per
capita each day. That includes 190 gallons a day for domestic and
commercial use, 673 gallons each day for industrial use and 600
gallons every day for agricultural use.
“In
many regions, the water supply is shrinking because of drought and
non-sustainable pumping aquifers,” says the lab’s study. “Drought
impacts in the West reduce the amount of available water for existing
and planned thermal power production, urban and agricultural use, and
hydropower.” Greater use of wind energy, it adds, could ease the
burdens create by those fuel sources that are water-dependent.
According
to the World Policy Institute, coal-and-oil-fired power plants
consume roughly twice the water than that of gas-fired facilities
while nuclear generation needs three times that of natural gas.
Cleaner coal technologies such as coal gasification will reduce that
need by as much as half but, emerging concepts like carbon capture
and burial could increase consumption between 30-100 percent.
Wind
and rooftop solar panels, meantime, are the most efficient forms of
generation when it comes to water. However, large and commercial
solar plants use twice the water as coal and five times the amount as
gas-fired plants. Further, corn-based bio-fuels used in
transportation consume much greater amounts of water than does the
drilling for traditional oil.
In
Texas, the combination of hot summers and water shortages are pitting
farmers against shale-gas developers. Diana Glassman, who co-authored
the report for the think tank, says 13 million gallons of water are
required in the southern portion of the state. The idea that
shale-gas will become the next gold rush is therefore jeopardized,
particularly because its production requires seven times the amount
of water as does the extraction of conventional natural gas.
“The
competition between water and energy needs represents a critical
business, security, and environmental issue, but it has not yet
received the attention that it deserves,” says Glassman. “Energy
production consumes significant amounts of water, and vice versa. In
a world where water scarcity is a major and growing challenge, water
deserves a place on the energy agenda alongside cost, carbon and
security considerations.”
New
technologies, though, are advancing. Today, utilities use
“one-through cooling” that returns nearly all the water to its
original source. But newer mechanisms use “closed loop” systems
that re-circulate the water.
Practically
speaking, that means less water is consumed. News reports say that
Georgia Power’s Yates plant that is located on the Chattahoochee
River made the conversion. The results: 477 million gallons a day
consumed under the old method and 32 million gallons a day under the
new one.
California
wants to follow that lead: It would have its 19 power plants there
phase out their older cooling systems and install modern ones,
although they could retrofit their facilities so that they would use
less water.
Two
nuclear plants along the coastline there withdraw 15 billion gallons
of water per day and would be affected: Pacific Gas & Electric’s
Diablo Canyon and Southern California Edison’s San Onofre. The
policy seeks to comply with the Clean Water Act and to minimize harm
to aquatic life there. New York and New Jersey are considering
similar measures.
Utilities
have the twin pressures this summer of ensuring that they enough
power to meet peak demand and that they will have the water resources
available to quench the thirst of the power plants delivering that
energy. New technologies could subsequently ease those tensions. But
it’s unlikely that anyone will notice the scarcity of resources
until the lights go out or their bills start to escalate.
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