How much water is used in generating electricity?
Large fossil fuel and nuclear plants require incredible quantities of water for cooling and ongoing maintenance. Water for thermoelectric power is used in generating electricity with steam-driven turbine generators. It uses 48% of all water in the US. According to the Pace Energy and Climate Center, the amount of water used for power plant cooling varies by each specific power plant’s electricity generating technology and size. Nuclear reactors require the most water for cooling, and baseload fossil fuel power plants come in second. The Salem Nuclear Generating Station alone takes 3 billion gallons a day from the Delaware Bay, according to the Pace Energy and Climate Center. Nationally: • Steam electric generating plants across the nation draw in more than 200 billion gallons per day. • Nuclear and fossil fuel power plants drink over 185 billion gallons of water per day. • Geothermal power plants add another 2 billion or so gallons a day. • Most renewable energy technologies require li
