Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Vermont Law School, and the CNA Corporation in the US have released two reports which warn that our current means of water-intensive electricity production will result in massive water shortages and become unsustainable by 2040 for the entire planet, and as early as 2020 in some areas.
From the Science Daily article (emphasis mine):
Three years of research show that by the year 2040 there will not be enough water in the world to quench the thirst of the world population and keep the current energy and power solutions going if we continue doing what we are doing today. It is a clash of competing necessities, between drinking water and energy demand...In most countries, electricity is the biggest source of water consumption because the power plants need cooling cycles in order to function. The only energy systems that do not require cooling cycles are wind and solar systems, and therefore one of the primary recommendations issued by these researchers is to replace old power systems with more sustainable wind and solar systems.
Here is a more complete list of solutions from the reports (emphasis mine again):
- Improve energy efficiency
- Better research on alternative cooling cycles
- Registering how much water power plants use
- Massive investments in wind energy
- Massive investments in solar energy
- Abandon fossil fuel facilities in all water stressed places (which means half the planet)
Massive investments in solar power, you say? Ahem.
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