Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on a Need for Water

[mahatmakanejeeves]

A Western Water War Slows Some Solar Projects

Here is an inconvenient truth about renewable energy: It can sometimes demand a huge amount of water. Many of the proposed solutions to the nation’s energy problems, from certain types of solar farms to biofuel refineries to cleaner coal plants, could consume billions of gallons of water every year.

“When push comes to shove, water could become the real throttle on renewable energy,” said Michael E. Webber, an assistant professor at the University of Texas in Austin who studies the relationship between energy and water.

Conflicts over water could shape the future of many energy technologies. The most water-efficient renewable technologies are not necessarily the most economical, but water shortages could give them a competitive edge.

[liberalmike27]

1. We already have this to some extent.

But I've been thinking for some time now that we need to probably have some sort of large-water infrastructure. What I mean is, a large Interstate system of piping to distribute water, from one region where it's raining a lot, to another, that might have a drought.

I think this is going to become a federal problem soon, as it should be. We have a dispute between Northern Alabama and the Atlanta Georgia area now. It's too big of a problem to neglect. Clearly the war of the future isn't going to be oil, but water. We need to sort it out now, and while we do it, we might as well be building some transmission lines.

Hell, Republicans seem to think instantanious improvement of the economy is possible, and the only way to do that is to put a huge war and infrastructure tax on the top percent earners in this country, perhaps tossing capital gains into the pool of ordinary income, and use that to hire folks to get things done that we obviously need. But clearly this water, and other problems, are becoming fairly deadly. We need to deal with it.

[phantom power]

2. Yes...