Table 1. Water withdrawal reported volumes for different fuels and cooling technologies (Gleick 1994, Goldstein and Smith 2002a, Woods et al. 2007, National Renewable Energy Laboratory 2008). Air-cooling requires negligible water and is compatible with all of the technologies listed.
| |
| |
|
|
Cooling Technologies – Water Withdrawal (L [MWh]-1)† |
|
|
|
|
Open-Loop |
Closed-Loop Reservoir |
Closed-Loop Cooling Tower |
Hybrid Cooling |
Air-Cooling |
| |
|
Coal |
132,000
(±57,000) |
1700
(±500) |
2100
(±200) |
between |
<400 |
|
Nuclear |
161,000
(±66,000) |
3000
(±1,100) |
3600
(±600) |
between |
<400 |
|
Natural Gas Combustion Turbine |
negligible |
negligible |
negligible |
negligible |
negligible |
|
Natural Gas Combined-Cycle |
52,000
(±24,000) |
600‡
(±100) |
900 |
between |
<400‡ |
|
Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle |
not used |
not used |
1500‡
(±400) |
between |
<400‡ |
|
Concentrated Solar Power |
not used |
not used |
3200‡
(±300) |
between |
<400‡ |
|
Wind |
none |
none |
none |
none |
none |
|
Photovoltaic Solar |
none |
none |
none |
none |
none |
|
| |
†L [MWh] -1: liters per megawatt-hour
‡Estimated based on withdrawal and consumption
ratios
|