Regional and seasonal water stress analysis of United States thermoelectricity
Abstract
Most thermoelectric power plants in the United States (U.S.) rely on fresh water for cooling, resulting in significant water consumption. An understanding of the regional and seasonal water stress impact of such water consumption is needed. In this study, we used a U.S. county-level water stress index, Available Water Remaining for the United States (AWARE-US), with facility-level thermoelectric power generation water consumption data, to quantify the regional and seasonal water stress impact of U.S. thermoelectric power plants. Water stress impact was evaluated as water-scarcity footprint (WSF) using monthly AWARE-US data. Results show that most thermoelectric power plants in the United States that use fresh water are in water-abundant regions. Our findings also show that a small fraction of the U.S. thermoelectric generation facilities (13% by power) located in water stressed regions contribute the most water stress impact (88% of the total WSF) caused by thermoelectric power generation in the U.S. Even if fresh water is abundant on an annual basis, many power plants are in counties with seasonal water shortages. Of the 401 counties with thermoelectric power plants using fresh water for cooling, 80 counties in February and 160 counties in August had fresh water withdrawal requirements that exceeded themore »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbone Management (FECM); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Fuel Cell Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1637577
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1811991
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Cleaner Production
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Journal of Cleaner Production Journal Volume: 270 Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0959-6526
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION; 58 GEOSCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; AWARE-US; thermoelectric power; water scarcity footprint; water stress
Citation Formats
Lee, Uisung, Chou, Joseph, Xu, Hui, Carlson, Derrick, Venkatesh, Aranya, Shuster, Erik, Skone, Timothy J., and Wang, Michael. Regional and seasonal water stress analysis of United States thermoelectricity. United Kingdom: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122234.
Lee, Uisung, Chou, Joseph, Xu, Hui, Carlson, Derrick, Venkatesh, Aranya, Shuster, Erik, Skone, Timothy J., & Wang, Michael. Regional and seasonal water stress analysis of United States thermoelectricity. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122234
Lee, Uisung, Chou, Joseph, Xu, Hui, Carlson, Derrick, Venkatesh, Aranya, Shuster, Erik, Skone, Timothy J., and Wang, Michael. Thu .
"Regional and seasonal water stress analysis of United States thermoelectricity". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122234.
@article{osti_1637577,
title = {Regional and seasonal water stress analysis of United States thermoelectricity},
author = {Lee, Uisung and Chou, Joseph and Xu, Hui and Carlson, Derrick and Venkatesh, Aranya and Shuster, Erik and Skone, Timothy J. and Wang, Michael},
abstractNote = {Most thermoelectric power plants in the United States (U.S.) rely on fresh water for cooling, resulting in significant water consumption. An understanding of the regional and seasonal water stress impact of such water consumption is needed. In this study, we used a U.S. county-level water stress index, Available Water Remaining for the United States (AWARE-US), with facility-level thermoelectric power generation water consumption data, to quantify the regional and seasonal water stress impact of U.S. thermoelectric power plants. Water stress impact was evaluated as water-scarcity footprint (WSF) using monthly AWARE-US data. Results show that most thermoelectric power plants in the United States that use fresh water are in water-abundant regions. Our findings also show that a small fraction of the U.S. thermoelectric generation facilities (13% by power) located in water stressed regions contribute the most water stress impact (88% of the total WSF) caused by thermoelectric power generation in the U.S. Even if fresh water is abundant on an annual basis, many power plants are in counties with seasonal water shortages. Of the 401 counties with thermoelectric power plants using fresh water for cooling, 80 counties in February and 160 counties in August had fresh water withdrawal requirements that exceeded the sustainable fresh water available (availability minus demand or AMD) in that region. This means that 27% and 46% of power generation facilities have difficulty securing sustainable fresh water in February and August, respectively. This study is intended to support water consumption management in existing power plants and guide the deployment of future power plants to mitigate water stress impact.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122234},
journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},
number = C,
volume = 270,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122234
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