Energy, water demands are on collision course

[babylonsister]

Energy, water demands are on collision course
By Robert S. Boyd | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008



WASHINGTON — Like the old song, ``Love and marriage, love and marriage . . . you can't have one without the other,'' so it goes with energy and water.

It takes a lot of water to produce energy. It takes a lot of energy to provide water. The two are inextricably linked, and claims on each are rising.

``The water supply is as critical as oil,'' said Charles Groat, a geologist and expert on the problem at the University of Texas in Austin.

In return, ``water use requires a tremendous amount of energy,'' said Peter Gleick, the president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security in Oakland, Calif.

As the United States tries to lower its dependence on foreign oil by producing more energy from domestic sources such as ethanol, however, it's running low on fresh water.

Water is needed for mining coal, drilling for oil, refining gasoline, generating and distributing electricity, and disposing waste, Gleick said.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/30128.html

[phantom power]

1. water requirements for energy actually exceed those of agriculture.

Which is one of the single scariest things I learned in 2007.

[Javaman]

2. For every barrel of oil from the oil sands in Canada, it takes 250 gallons of water

to help refine it.

From the oil shale in colorado it takes roughly 150 gallons of water for each barrel of oil refined.

we, in a word, are fucked.