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2007-08 Seminars

Impacts of Electricity Generation on Water Resources

John Bistline
Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract
Reconciling increasing demand for electric power with the numerous environmental and regulatory constraints associated with electricity production presents one of the most daunting technical, economic, and societal challenges confronting the U.S. and the global community over the next fifty years. While the coupling of climate change and energy production has been the dominant issue in recent years, the water needs associated with electricity production have received significantly less research attention.

This seminar will discuss research conducted as part of the Thomas H. Johnson Engineering and Public Policy Washington Fellowship with the Electric Power Research Institute. The focus of this seminar will be the complex interdependencies and tradeoffs associated with the composition of an electricity generation portfolio designed to reduce CO2 emissions and its associated water needs. Qualitative and quantitative examinations of the dependency of the U.S. electricity generation portfolio composition on nationwide water withdrawal and consumption until 2030 will be discussed.

SLIDES