Water-Energy Testimony: CO2 Capture Technologies Could "Significantly Increase" Freshwater Consumption

As director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory in the U.S. Department of Energy, Carl Bauer knows a lot about how water gets used by the energy sector. In his testimony on behalf the Energy and Water Integration Act of 2009, Mr. Bauer describes existing water demands for energy production in the United States and how these demands might change in the future.

We already know that current power production requires a lot of water, accounting for the largest overall withdrawals (including saline and freshwater) of any sector. As Mr. Bauer points out:

“Most Americans do not realize that they use more water turning on lights and running appliances each day than they do directly through washing their clothes and watering their lawns. This is because thermoelectric power generation facilities require large volumes of freshwater to operate...in the absence of successful development of new advanced CO2 capture and water management technologies, implementation of today’s CO2 capture technologies would significantly increase freshwater consumption by fossil-based power plants”

As we begin to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in response to climate change, the path we choose to take can either increase or decrease energy demands for freshwater. Photovoltaic solar and wind power require almost no water at all and are among the best options for “dewatering” our energy supply. But the magnitude of our national energy needs is so great that few people believe these technologies will be able to meet all of our energy demands in the foreseeable future.

Mr. Bauer spends the bulk of his testimony looking at the water impacts of implementing new cooling technologies and carbon capture and storage to traditional thermoelectric energy sources, particularly coal. I won’t delve into the details here, but would recommend that anybody interested in learning more about how reducing greenhouse gases in the power generation sector will influence water demands, read through Bauer's work. In short: its complicated. To view Carl Bauer’s complete testimony, click here.