Energy production: 580b CM freshwater needed in one year – IEA

The International Energy Agency, IEA, has said about 580billion cubic metres of freshwater a year are necessary for energy production.
This was contained in the Agency’s latest analysis released on Thursday as the world celebrates Water Week.
According to the Agency, the scale of water use for energy production is tremendous, saying the 580 billion cubic metres of freshwater is 1.6 billion cubic meters a day – enough to fill 640,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day of the year.
Water which covers more than two-thirds of the planet’s surface, is fundamental to life. It is also essential to energy production.
Water is critical to pumping oil and natural gas out of the ground, thanks to hydraulic fracturing. Hydropower dams can generate power and light up cities. Water is also vital to the cooling of nuclear reactors.
However, it said fresh water is becoming less available because of various factors “including population growth, intensive agriculture and of course climate change. How this will impact energy production around the world is becoming an increasingly pressing question”, it said.
IEA said the energy sector must adapt quickly, particularly in countries facing water scarcity.
“This rising demand could lead to serious shortages, both of water and energy”.
In 2010 for instance, a drought caused the 2.3 Gigawatt Chandrapur coal-fired power station to shut down, leading to power outages across the state, which is home to over 120 million people.
Meanwhile in the United States, some 60% of existing coal-fired power plants are also vulnerable to water demand and supply concerns.
Many of the solutions are clear, “Increasing the share of gas-fired and renewable power generation can play a significant role in cutting back on water use. Technological innovations also have a major role, for instance in exploiting non-freshwater sources, including salt water, treated wastewater, storm water, and reclaimed water from oil and gas operations. There are also economic solutions, such as assigning an appropriate price on water where it is currently underpriced or free”, it said.