Thermoelectric power accounted for an estimated 49 percent of US water withdrawals in 2005

Energy Efficiency Absorbs Water
By Elisa Wood
May 13, 2011

Efforts have been underway for decades to conserve both energy and water, but never in concert. This is unfortunate because energy uses a lot of water and water uses a lot of energy.

Two leading conservation organizations have set out to bring the efforts together. This week, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Alliance for Water Efficiency published a white paper that describes the co-dependence of water and energy resources, and outlines strategies to use both more efficiently.

The paper brings to light some interesting – and rarely discussed – ways each resource heightens use of the other.
-Sourcing, moving, treating, heating, collecting, re-treating, and dispos­ing of water consumes 19 percent of California’s electricity, 30 percent of its natural gas, and 88 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually, according to a 2005 California Energy Commission report.
-The River Network in 2009 found that energy use for water services accounts for 13 percent of US electricity consumption, at least 520 million megawatt-hours annually.
-Thermoelectric power accounted for an estimated 49 percent of US water withdrawals and 53 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals in 2005.

ACEEE and AWE hope to...

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2011/05/energy-efficiency-absorbs-water?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-May18-2011


This is good information, it shows an area where there is almost certainly a lot of room for improvement in both areas of infrastructure. The white paper the article is based on is available at the link.

I never would have guessed it to be so high. I would have guessed 5-10% max.

Withdrawal is the amount that is required to be available for cooling needs and consumption would be evaporative losses.

From the white paper:
Likewise, the U.S. Geological Survey, in its report entitled Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005, estimated that 49 percent of the nation’s total water use and 53 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals went into the production of thermoelectric power (USGS 2009). Much of that water use is termed “non-consumptive” because water is returned to its original source, even though its qualities have changed, especially temperature and pollutant levels. Some of that withdrawn water, however, becomes “consumptive” when it is lost to evaporation. Estimates of the amount of water lost to consumption in energy production ranges widely because of variances associated with climate and with thermoelectric generation versus hydroelectric generation. Nevertheless, an approximate average of 23 gallons per kilowatt-hour at least provides a rough indicator of quantity (USGS 2009).


Joan F. Kenny, Nancy L. Barber, Susan S. Hutson, Kristin S. Linsey, John K. Lovelace, and Molly A. Maupin. 2009. Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005. Circular 1344. U.S. Geological Survey.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1344/pdf/c1344.pdf
Thermoelectric-power withdrawals and net power generation are listed by State in table 12. The total quantity of water withdrawn for thermoelectric power for 2005 was an estimated 201,000 Mgal/d or 225,000 thousand acre-feet per year (table 2B). Surface water was the source for 99 percent of total thermoelectric-power withdrawals, and 28 percent of the surface water was saline. Saline surface-water withdrawals accounted for 93 percent of total saline withdrawals for all categories. Thermoelectric-power withdrawals accounted for 49 percent of total water use, 41 percent of total freshwater withdrawals, and 53 percent of fresh surface-water with- drawals for all categories. Estimates of total withdrawals for thermoelectric-power generation were about 3 percent larger for 2005 than for 2000; however, freshwater withdrawals increased by 7 percent, whereas saline withdrawals decreased 4 percent. Net power generation associated with self-supplied thermoelectric-power water withdrawals amounted to 3,190,000 gigawatt-hours in 2005. On average, about 23 gallons of water were used to produce 1 kilowatt-hour of energy.