POWER July 2014 - 32

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
The Water-Energy Nexus Takes
Center Stage
Source: EPA
Power plant operators have long understood the vital role water plays in power
generation. Now, as the rest of the world begins recognizing that as well, a conflict
is brewing between the growing demand for electricity and increasingly strained
water resources.
Thomas W. Overton, JD
U
nless you've been living in a cave,
you've likely heard the term " waterenergy
nexus " recently. Around the
globe, experts and policy makers are waking
up to the reality that the world's energy needs
and its water needs are on a collision course.
A recent report from the Congressional
Research Service lays out the challenge in
the U.S. National water consumption is projected
to increase 7% by 2030, and 85% of
that increase is attributable to the energy sector.
Globally, the figures are dire: According
to the International Energy Agency (IEA),
consumption is projected to increase 2.5% per
year through 2035 even with policy changes
designed to increase water use efficiency,
with energy-related consumption doubling
over the same period.
The potential for a staggering conflict can
32
be drawn from just two statistics: Worldwide,
according to the United Nations, 2 billion people
lack access to safe water supplies, and 1.3
billion lack access to electricity. In most cases,
these numbers represent the same people.
Uncertain Data
One problem in tackling these challenges is
a paucity of good data. The U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS), which publishes comprehensive
reports on water usage in the U.S. every
five years, has not reported water consumed in
power generation since 1995-only total withdrawals.
The USGS plans to return to reporting
this data with the study for 2010, but this
report will not be available until late 2014.
Thus, though it is known that withdrawals
for once-through cooling (OTC) have
been more or less level since 1980, it is not
www.powermag.com
clear how recent moves toward generation resources
with very different water use profiles
may have affected consumption. The Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI) has attempted
to fill this gap, most recently with a report
updated in April 2014, though it covered only
thermoelectric plants using freshwater.
The EPRI results, based on data from
2009 for all thermal plants except nuclear
(for which data through 2011 was available)
are consistent with previous studies suggesting
that while power generation withdrawals
are a significant portion (about 40%) of
total withdrawals, consumption constitutes a
much smaller share. Total withdrawals were
estimated at 139,800 million gallons per day
(mgd), with OTC accounting for almost all
of this. Consumption was estimated at 3,930
mgd, with most of this (2,760 mgd) accountPOWER
| July 2014

http://www.powermag.com

POWER July 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER July 2014

Contents
POWER July 2014 - Cover1
POWER July 2014 - Cover2
POWER July 2014 - Contents
POWER July 2014 - 2
POWER July 2014 - 3
POWER July 2014 - 4
POWER July 2014 - 5
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POWER July 2014 - Cover3
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