Energy use
From Water Wiki
The main ways in which we produce electricity all consume large amounts of water. Thermoelectric power plants burn fossil fuels to heat water and generate steam, and lose massive amounts of water to evaporation in cooling the condensors. Nuclear plants also use massive amounts of water for cooling, and lose water through evaporation. Hydroelectric power involves storage of water in reservoirs, and these reservoirs are increasingly used also as drinking water sources, but they lose water to evaporation from the reservoir. Sandia National Labs produced an important report for the Department of Energy on the linkage between energy needs and water in 2006. The State of New York has issued a draft permit to Entergy, Inc. for the Indian Point nuclear station that requires recycling of cooling tower water, to cut down on the killing of fish from cooling water intakes.[1]
According to the 2000 USGS water usage data, thermoelectric water usage was North Carolina's largest withdrawer of water: 7,850 Mgal/d of fresh water and 1,620 Mgal/d of saline.
Estimates of the amount of water consumed in generating a kilowatt of electricity range from an aggregate total
for the United States of 2.0 gal/kWh (7.6 L/kWh)of fresh water evaporated per kWh of end-use electricity (NREL, 2003) (noting thermoelectric average of 0.47 gal/kWh) (1.8 L) and hydroelectric power plants evaporated 18 gal (68 L) of fresh water per kWh consumed by the end user.[2] to estimates as high as 27 gal/kWh (attributed to U.S. Department of Energy by Catawba RiverKeeper).See the article on evaporation for more discussion of evaporative losses.
North Carolina has three nuclear power plants with five reactors. Two are boiling water reactors (BWR) and three are light water pressurized reactors (PWR). As of January 1, 2005, North Carolina ranked 6th among the 31 States with nuclear capacity. [3] Progress Energy announced that it plans to seek a Combined Operators License for an AP1000 reactor (possibly two, but only one currently considered) for the Shearon Harris plant in September or October 2007. Power plans to seek a Combined Operators License for two AP1000 reactors for a plant in either North or South Carolina. The application is anticipated in late 2007 and the target date for completion of construction is in 2014.
Energy in NC
| Year | Coal |
Natural Gas | Hydro | Nuclear | Other |
| 2004 | 60 | 2 | 4 | 32 | 4 |
| 2003 | 59 | 1 | 6 | 32 | 4 |
| 2002 | 60 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 5 |
| Plant | Primary Energy Source | Operating Company |
Net Summer Capacity
|
| Roxboro | Coal | Progress Energy Carolinas Inc | 2,437 |
| Belews Creek | Coal | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | 2,270 |
| McGuire | Nuclear | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | 2,200 |
| Marshall | Coal | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | 2,110 |
| Brunswick | Nuclear | Progress Energy Carolinas Inc | 1,875 |
| Lincoln Combustion | Gas | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | 1,267 |
| Richmond | Gas | Progress Energy Carolinas Inc | 1,231 |
| G G Allen | Coal | Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC | 1,145 |
| Rowan | Gas | Southern Power Co | 977 |
| Harris | Nuclear | Progress Energy Carolinas Inc | 900 |
Notes
- ↑ http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/d2c8851c26c14ab2328a682deabb4d61.htm; http://indianpointenergy.org/archive/2003/fishplan11132003.php
- ↑ Consumptive Water Use for U.S. Power Production December 2003 • NREL/TP-550-33905 P. Torcellini, N. Long, and R. Judkoff National Renewable Energy Laboratory 1617 Cole Boulevard Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 NREL is a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory Operated by Midwest Research Institute • Battelle Contract No. DE-AC36-99-GO10337
- ↑ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states/statesnc.html
- ↑ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/st_profiles/north_carolina.html
