Tag: electricity
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AI programs consume large volumes of scarce water
UCR study finds that keeping servers powered & cool at cloud data processing centers has high water costs Every time you run a ChatGPT artificial intelligence query, you use up a little bit of an increasingly scarce resource: fresh water. Run some 20 to 50 queries and roughly a half liter, around 17 ounces, of…
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Billions of Gallons of Water Saved by Transition Away From Coal
Credit: Pixabay. The ongoing transition from coal to natural gas and renewables in the U.S. electricity sector is dramatically reducing the industry’s water use, a new Duke University study finds. “While most attention has been focused on the climate and air quality benefits of switching from coal, this new study shows that the transition to…
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Leading Water Utilities Reducing Water-Energy Nexus Pressures
Water is required to produce nearly all forms of energy. At the same time, electricity is needed to provide drinking water and treat wastewater. Recognizing rising water-energy nexus pressures, a range of water utilities around the world are developing innovative solutions to reduce these pressures. Melbourne Water’s hydro-electric power stations Melbourne Water has hydro-electric power…
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Intensification of the water footprint of hydraulic fracturing
Abstract Unconventional oil and gas exploration in the United States has experienced a period of rapid growth, followed by several years of limited production due to falling and low natural gas and oil prices. Throughout this transition, the water use for hydraulic fracturing and wastewater production in major shale gas and oil production regions has…
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You probably have no idea how much water is needed to produce electricity
Photo: That’s not carbon dioxide. It’s steam. You’re likely within a few feet of an electric switch. When you turn it on, some power plant many miles away starts producing the electrons your device needs. Despite the growth of renewable-energy solutions, most of those electrons are still generated by fossil fuel or radioactive fuel. The…
