Solar PV systems and wind turbines over their whole life cycle consume about 0.1??14% and withdraw about 2??15% of the water used by coal or nuclear plants to generate 1 MWh, IASS says in its policy brief published earlier this week.
The researchers point out that energy decision-makers tend to mistakenly consider water an abundant resource that they do not need to worry about in planning. Meanwhile, according to UNESCO, by 2050, more than 40% of the global population is expected to live in areas of severe water stress.
IASS policy brief outlines the three major steps that would help to accelerate water-resilient electricity generation around the world. It suggests increasing the share of wind and solar PV power in water-scarce regions, not only because they are the least water-intensive electricity technologies, but also because they help to reduce climate-induced water risks due to their very low greenhouse gas emissions.
Another important step is to incorporate water scarcity into energy decision-making. IASS suggests charging the energy sector for its water use in a way that better reflects actual water costs and scarcities.
Finally, the energy sector has to become more transparent regarding its water use. The limited data on actual water requirements in the energy sector in different parts of the world is a fundamental deficiency for informed decision-making, the brief says.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.