Power Plants

Hydropower plants could have reduced production capacity as a result of reduced precipitation or change in snowmelt. Hydropower needs might increasingly conflict with other priorities, such as salmon restoration goals in the Pacific Northwest (IPCC, 2007a).

Steam-electric plants rely on water resources. The average 500-megawatt coal-fired plant uses more than 12 million gallons of water an hour. A coal-fired plant that implements carbon-capture technology will use almost 23 million gallons of water (Greenwire, 2008). A lack of water resources due to changes in precipitation patterns might result in a plant’s diminished ability to function. In addition, cooling water withdrawals can have an impact on aquatic systems.

References:

Greenwire—Land Letter. Friday, November 21, 2008. Water woes create hurdle for Western carbon-capture projects. Washington, DC, accessed August 31, 2009.

IPCC. 2007a. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Parry, Martin L., Canziani, Osvaldo F., Palutikof, Jean P., van der Linden, Paul J., and Hanson, Clair E. (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1000 pp, accessed August 31, 2009.