Source: Trillion Fund / Words: Rebecca Cooke

Traditional power stations use a gargantuan amount of water to generate power, a new report from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has found.

The report calls on the Government to take into consideration the water that is being used when debating and setting climate change and energy policy and to favour advancements in wind technology in order to save water being wasted.

The EWEA’s report: “Saving Water with Wind Energy” says nuclear, coal and gas-fired power stations in Europe use a mammoth 4.5 billion cubic meters of water a year, which is mainly used for cooling purposes.

This is equivalent to three Olympic-sized swimming pools being consumed every minute globally. It is also roughly the amount of water used by 82 million EU citizens annually. Energy production accounts for 44 per cent of the EU’s total water use, way ahead of agriculture at 24 per cent, the public water supply at 21 per cent and industry which accounts for 11 per cent.

With hosepipe bans being introduced across Britain in recent years due to water shortages, the study warns that such plants only exacerbate Europe’s water scarcity, whereas energy produced from wind turbines requires hardly any water to generate clean electricity. The EWEA is urging European state officials who are meeting on March 20 and 21 to take this into account when they formulate energy and climate change policies.

RenewableUK’s director of external affairs, Jennifer Webber, said:

“Water is a very precious resource – water restrictions were imposed in the UK in the summer of 2012 in areas hit by drought. One of the many benefits of wind energy is that it requires hardly any water to keep generating. This report is a timely reminder of the environmental impact of other technologies which use vast amounts of water for cooling. When Governments set energy policy, they should take this into account – it’s not just the carbon footprint that matters, but also the water swallowed up by these other thirsty generators”.

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