EnergizeUS is all about local energy jobs and the manufacturing needed to support that. EnergizeUS coalition member and Arizona Senate candidate Rodney Glassman has a background in arid land management and he immediately keyed in on the water issues associated with energy production.
This isn’t well known yet, but it is a very serious concern, and one we’d do well to address sooner rather than later.
All fossil fuel based electricity production requires water for evaporative cooling once the system is larger than a small village’s backup generator. This report on the link between water and electricity generation makes it clear:
According to the report’s authors, wind and photovoltaic solar systems use comparatively little water in comparison to more traditional methods of energy production like coal and oil. By replacing a 5-megawatt coal plant with wind turbines, the report argues, the West could stand to save 1.9 billion gallons in water withdrawals and 1.6 billion in water consumption.
Coal bed methane is a new problem in the mountain west; this report from the University of Montana reveals the water loss. Not use, mind you, loss. Water used in this way is contaminated with heavy metals and organic compounds; think of it as oil spill lite in terms of the effect.
To put this in perspective, an MSU Bozeman study estimates that natural gas currently uses roughly 18,000 gallons of water per well per day.
There are fourteen western states that depend on the Colorado river for water. California is the largest and must be considered in any calculation for the region. It is the most studied of the states but all of the work seems to be locked up in epic PDFs. Here is the money quote from this 2005 study.
Water related energy use consumes 19% of the (California’s) electricity, 30% of its natural gas(!), and 2.2 billion barrels of diesel fuel annually.
Do we need to make this any more clear? Only wind and solar are able to produce electricity without consuming massive amounts of water. Our water handling consumes massive amounts of fossil fuels. This is a problem we must solve, not just for Arizona, but for the whole region that depends on the Colorado.
Rodney Glassman has a long history of working within the city of Tucson on water and energy saving, including a first in the nation rainwater harvesting ordinance . As a Senator he’ll couple his history of focusing on this key issue with his education in the area to help drive national sized solutions. Some obvious things that need doing include:
Where ever we’re handling water we should be doing so with wind or solar systems. Cutting the fossil fuel usage cuts water usage; it’s a win all around. We also need to make our systems work in better harmony with nature, accepting and planning for intermittent access to power, banking water in the places where it’s needed when the wind and sun give us the power to process and move it.
Home heating is another place where we using electricity and natural gas. If we make policy that drives the solar thermal panel market this simple, easy to install technology will make work for currently idle construction workers, it will save the taxpayers money, and it’ll accomplish both these goals as it eases pressure on our water supplies.
EnergizeUS is a coalition of candidates across the country talking about how we can reenergize our economy, put Americans back to work in good paying jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil but creating jobs in the areas of renewable energy resources and energy efficiency. Candidates of the coalition are: David Cozad (TX-06), Raul Grijalva (AZ-07),Jim Holbert (KY-05), Billy Kennedy (NC-5), David Gill (IL-15), Lance Enderle (MI-08), Rodney Glassman (AZ-Sen), Cheryl Hudspeth (KS-02),Lainey Melnick (TX-21), Kevin Bradley (CO-05),Jerry Policoff (PA St House 41), and Michael Puhr (IL St House 104).
You can learn more about the coalition at EnergizeUS.org & you can join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
If you can afford to, please show these candidates some love on ActBlue.