Water And Power ((better))

In a standard power plant, fuel is burned to create steam, which spins a turbine. That steam then needs to be cooled back into water to restart the cycle. This cooling process requires massive amounts of water. In the United States, thermoelectric power plants account for nearly , rivaling agriculture. The Nuclear Factor

Pumping water from deep underground or moving it across mountain ranges via aqueducts requires immense electrical loads. For example, the is the single largest consumer of electricity in the state of California, used primarily to pump water from the lush north to the arid south. Desalination: The High-Energy Frontier water and power

| Technology | Cooling water withdrawal | Consumption | Notes | |------------|------------------------|-------------|-------| | Nuclear | 25,000–60,000 | 600–800 | Once-through vs. cooling tower | | Coal (steam) | 20,000–50,000 | 300–600 | Scrubbers increase water use | | Natural gas combined cycle | 7,000–11,000 | 100–200 | Dry cooling available | | Solar PV / Wind | ~0 | ~0 | No thermal cycle | | Hydropower | variable | high evaporation | Reservoir evaporation often > operational use | | Concentrated solar power (CSP) | 800–1,500 | 300–500 | Wet-cooled | In a standard power plant, fuel is burned