14 DAY TRIAL // According to a report released this past March 12 by the European Wind Energy Association, wind farms up and running across the European Union's territory are the ones to thank for the fact that in 2012, member states managed to cut their overall water consumption by as much as 1.2 billion cubic meters.
To put things into perspective, it must be said that these 1.2 billion cubic meters represent the equivalent of 4% of the total amount of water the European Union's entire population typically goes through throughout the course of just one year.
Specialists working with the Association estimate that, by reducing water use to such an extent, the Union also managed to save roughly €2.4 billion ($3.32 billion). Interestingly enough, there are some who claim that, since water is quite often undervalued, it might be that the actual savings were greater.
In light of these findings, the European Wind Energy Association argues that, all things considered, the development of the renewable energy industry across the Union could help not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also improve on the member state's water security.
Business Green tells us that, in its report, the Association says that, for the time being, about 44% of the European Union’s overall water demand needs be linked to the power generation sector. More precisely, it says that loads of water goes into cooling thermal and nuclear power stations.
More precisely, it is estimated that nuclear power plants use some 2.7 cubic meters of water per MWh. Coal and gas plants, on the other hand, have been documented to go through 1.9 cubic meters and 0.7 cubic meters per MWh, respectively.
“Water equivalent to over three Olympic size swimming pools is consumed every minute of every day of the year to cool Europe's nuclear, coal and gas plants,” specialist Ivan Pineda with the Association explained in recent interview.
The trouble is that, since 2007 until present day, some 11% of Europe's entire population has come to experience water scarcity. Given the fact that ongoing climate change and global warming are bound to foster severe droughts in the years to come, the situation could get ever worse in the not so distant future.
Hence, investing in harvesting renewables, especially wind power, and thus cutting water consumption might not be such a bad idea. As Ivan Pineda put it, “Increasing our use of wind energy will help preserve this precious resource far more effectively than any ban on watering the garden – while saving us money.”
Ivan Pineda and his colleagues estimate that, given the right policies, wind power has high chances to cut the European Union's annual water use by 4.3 – 6.4 billion cubic meters by 2030. The savings associated with this drop in water consumption would amount to €11.8 – €17.4 billion ($16.36 – $24.13 billion).