Water used in power plants
(gallons per year)| Steps in power plant life cycles | Consumed | % of total | Withdrawn | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel production and transportation | 2,830,000,000,000 | 65% | 3,850,000,000,000 | 7% |
| Power plant cooling | 1,410,000,000,000 | 32% | 54,200,000,000,000 | 93% |
| Waste handling | 98,400,000,000 | 2% | 20,400,000,000 | 0% |
Comparative water use in power plants
(gallons of water per gigawatt hour generated)| Water use | Withdrawn for fuel extraction | Withdrawn for power plant | Withdrawn for waste | Withdrawn Total | Consumed for fuel extraction | Consumed for power plant | Consumed for waste | Consumed Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar – PV | 1,778 | 0 | 0 | 1,778 | 1,778 | 0 | 0 | 1,778 |
| Wind | 30,050 | 0 | 0 | 30,050 | 3,005 | 0 | 0 | 3,005 |
| Natural Gas – Conventional | 18,222 | 743,732 | 0 | 761,955 | 17,102 | 39,465 | 0 | 56,568 |
| Natural Gas – Fracking | 45,743 | 743,732 | 0 | 789,475 | 44,630 | 39,465 | 0 | 84,095 |
| Solar – CSP | 20,034 | 1,546,202 | 0 | 1,566,235 | 20,034 | 918,152 | 0 | 938,185 |
| Geothermal | 2,630,152 | 322,892 | 0 | 2,953,044 | 2,630,152 | 319,605 | 0 | 2,949,758 |
| Biomass – Solid | 54,115 | 3,153,793 | 1,791 | 3,209,699 | 54,115 | 76,513 | 1,791 | 132,420 |
| Coal (all types) | 149,387 | 16,152,570 | 8,980 | 16,310,937 | 76,154 | 299,983 | 44,055 | 420,192 |
| Nuclear | 4,028 | 24,639,229 | 3,148 | 24,646,405 | 3,734 | 569,620 | 3,148 | 576,502 |
| Hydropower | 2,517,786 | 21,455,569,927 | 0 | 21,458,087,713 | 2,517,786 | 0 | 0 | 2,517,786 |
Additional information
You can check out our sources and analysis here:
- How much water is withdrawn and consumed annually by electric power plants?
- How does water usage per gigawatt hour of generation compare between power plants?
Here are some of the great articles and papers we came across while researching water use in the power industry:
- Quartz: You probably have no idea just how much water is needed to produce electricity
- Quantification of the water-use reduction associated with the transition from coal to natural gas in the US electricity sector
- Union of Concerned Scientists:
- EPA – 2013 EPA HYDRAULIC FRACTURING STUDY WATER ACQUISITION WORKSHOP RECYCLING AND REUSE OF PRODUCED WATER TO REDUCE FRESHWATER USE IN HYDRAULIC FRACTURING OPERATIONS