Category Archives: Water

Electric Cars and Biofuels switch dependence from foreign oil to domestic water and weather risks

  Figure 1. Energy/Water Nexus Amy Hardberger, Matthew E. Mantell, Michael Webber, Carey W. King, Karl Fennessey [ This Senate hearing covers a lot of ground. I found the most interesting testimony to be the intersection of water and energy, … Continue reading

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Water as a geopolitical threat. U.S. House of Representatives

Preface. Water scarcity is causing unrest and could led to war in Asia and the Middle East. There’s a website that keeps track of conflicts over water going back for 3,000 years here — 655 of them.   The prevalence of … Continue reading

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Plants are sucking streams dry thanks to more CO2

Slezak, M. October 24, 2015. Carbon emissions make Earth greener but are also drying it out. NewScientist. Source: Ukkola, A. M., et al. October 19, 2015 Reduced streamflow in water-stressed climates consistent with CO2 effects on vegetation. Nature Climate Change 6, … Continue reading

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Coal plants are causing water shortages in China

Wong, E. March 22, 2016. Report Ties Coal Plants to Water Shortage in Northern China. New York Times. China’s consumption of coal, a major contributor to climate change and the country’s horrific air pollution, is worsening a severe water shortage … Continue reading

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Peak Aquifers: Very little Ground water is renewable, perhaps only 1.5%

Gleeson, Tom, et al. November 2015. The global volume and distribution of modern groundwater. Nature Geoscience. The water in aquifers and wells billions of people depend upon is mostly a non-renewable resource that could run out. Underground water is renewed … Continue reading

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Energy generation water consumption

[ Notice how much water biofuels use, especially soybeans for biodiesel Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer] Notes from “Working Document of the NPC Future Transportation Fuels Study. Topic … Continue reading

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Climate-water impacts on electricity sector capacity expansion NREL 2014

NREL. 2014. Modeling climate-water impacts on electricity sector capacity expansion. To be presented at the ASME 2014 Power Conference Baltimore, Maryland July 28–31, 2014. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 12 pages. Excerpts follow: ABSTRACT Climate change has the potential to exacerbate … Continue reading

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Homeland Security and Dept of Energy: Dams and Energy Sectors Interdependency Study

[Below are excerpts from this 45 page document. Dams not only provide power but also water for agriculture, drinking water, cooling water for thermal power plants, ecosystem health, fisheries, and so on.  All dams have a finite lifespan of 50 … Continue reading

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How to survive the coming century

Excerpts from 25 Feb 2009  How to survive the coming century http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126971.700-how-to-survive-the-coming-century.html?full=true All of the world’s major deserts are predicted to expand, with the Sahara reaching right into central Europe. Glacial retreat will dry Europe’s rivers from the Danube to … Continue reading

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Energy production requires a LOT of water

Energy and water – the real blue-chips August 20, 2011 by Nate Hagens and Kenneth Mulder Some excerpts from this article: The 2 most important natural resources are water and energy. In most cases, each is required to procure the … Continue reading

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