Energy Fact – Solar and wind use 250 times less water than coal and nuclear plants

Water used in power plants

(gallons per year)

Steps in power plant life cycles	Consumed	% of total	Withdrawn	% of total
Fuel production and transportation	2,830,000,000,000	65%	3,850,000,000,000	7%
Power plant cooling	1,410,000,000,000	32%	54,200,000,000,000	93%
Waste handling	98,400,000,000	2%	20,400,000,000	0%

Comparative water use in power plants

(gallons of water per gigawatt hour generated)

Water use	Withdrawn for fuel extraction	Withdrawn for power plant	Withdrawn for waste	Withdrawn Total	Consumed for fuel extraction	Consumed for power plant	Consumed for waste	Consumed Total
Solar – PV	1,778	0	0	1,778	1,778	0	0	1,778
Wind	30,050	0	0	30,050	3,005	0	0	3,005
Natural Gas – Conventional	18,222	743,732	0	761,955	17,102	39,465	0	56,568
Natural Gas – Fracking	45,743	743,732	0	789,475	44,630	39,465	0	84,095
Solar – CSP	20,034	1,546,202	0	1,566,235	20,034	918,152	0	938,185
Geothermal	2,630,152	322,892	0	2,953,044	2,630,152	319,605	0	2,949,758
Biomass – Solid	54,115	3,153,793	1,791	3,209,699	54,115	76,513	1,791	132,420
Coal (all types)	149,387	16,152,570	8,980	16,310,937	76,154	299,983	44,055	420,192
Nuclear	4,028	24,639,229	3,148	24,646,405	3,734	569,620	3,148	576,502
Hydropower	2,517,786	21,455,569,927	0	21,458,087,713	2,517,786	0	0	2,517,786

Additional information

You can check out our sources and analysis here:

Here are some of the great articles and papers we came across while researching water use in the power industry:

Quartz: You probably have no idea just how much water is needed to produce electricity
Quantification of the water-use reduction associated with the transition from coal to natural gas in the US electricity sector
Union of Concerned Scientists:
- How it Works: Water for Coal
- How Much Water Do Power Plants Use?
EPA – 2013 EPA HYDRAULIC FRACTURING STUDY WATER ACQUISITION WORKSHOP RECYCLING AND REUSE OF PRODUCED WATER TO REDUCE FRESHWATER USE IN HYDRAULIC FRACTURING OPERATIONS

Fact Code: g107