A previous reprint of an article originally published in Ecocentric noted that power plants need lots of water primarily for cooling. “Several Texas power plants that rely on cooling ponds are in a tough spot because their reservoirs aren’t being replenished, and that lack of cooling water means electricity production has to be ramped down exactly when record-breaking heat is causing soaring electricity demand. Regulators are worried that if the drought continues into next spring – and at least one climatologist says Texas is looking at nine more years of drought – several power plants would have to shut down.”
In “The Keys to Energy Sustainability” Dean Bill Chameides now reports that “the Union of Concerned Scientists and a team of independent scientists (two of whom are colleagues of mine here at Duke’s Nicholas School) suggests that a fourth issue — that of water scarcity — also impedes our path to energy sustainability.”
Source: e-News Research Desk @EIC