An autonomous and sustainable robotic system for cleaning photovoltaic panels, without the use of water: this new solution, developed for Enel Green Power by a Sicilian start-up, tells a story of successful innovation. When it comes to photovoltaics, dust is the enemy. This is not a trivial concept, even if it may seem so at … Continue reading A robot for dry cleaning photovoltaic systems
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Wind Energy and Desalination: A Sustainable Partnership for Clean Water
Wind energy and desalination have long been considered as two separate entities, each playing a vital role in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. Wind energy has emerged as a clean and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, while desalination has become an increasingly important solution to the global water crisis. However, recent advancements in technology … Continue reading Wind Energy and Desalination: A Sustainable Partnership for Clean Water
Continue readingLess water consumption means more benefits for all
Saving water resources at our plants is at the heart of WaVE, a project to reduce the environmental impact of energy production. For an organization like Enel Green Power that relies on water to produce clean energy and to fuel a new model of sustainable development, the issue of how to make the best use … Continue reading Less water consumption means more benefits for all
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Wind power and solar energy will reduce 97% of water consumption in electricity generation
In addition to its key role in the decarbonization of the global electricity sector, wind power, solar thermal and photovoltaic would also help reduce its water consumption by up to 97%. This is the result of a study conducted by a team of researchers from the Technological University of Lappeenranta in Finland and published in … Continue reading Wind power and solar energy will reduce 97% of water consumption in electricity generation
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Protecting our most precious resource: water
California’s ongoing drought serves as a stark reminder that water may well be our most precious resource. Luckily, wind power helps conserve billions of gallons every year. In 2013 alone, wind saved over 35 billion gallons of water. To put that into perspective, that works out to 120 gallons per person, or the equivalent of … Continue reading Protecting our most precious resource: water
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Concentrated Solar Power would need to meet 8%-10% of global electricity demand by 2050
The best sites are between 10° and 40°, South or North. As you can see in the chart below, this makes a huge difference, a CSP in Chile might cost half as much as one in Spain. Locating a plant with a solar irradiance of 2,700 kWh/m2 would decrease the generation cost by 25% compared with … Continue reading Concentrated Solar Power would need to meet 8%-10% of global electricity demand by 2050
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Lake Turkana Wind Power project
Lake Turkana, in the far northwest of Kenya and extending over the border into Ethiopia, is the world’s largest desert lake, in a region that is central to archaeological investigation into the origin of humanity. It is now also central to two different projects for expanding renewable energy due to come on-line in the … Continue reading Lake Turkana Wind Power project
Continue readingWater Resources Fact Sheet
Water scarcity may be the most underrated resource issue the world is facing today. Seventy percent of world fresh water use is for irrigation. Each day we drink nearly 4 liters of water, but it takes some 2,000 liters of water——to produce the food we consume.1,000 tons of water is used to produce 1 ton … Continue reading Water Resources Fact Sheet
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Acciona Agua leads a european R&D project to reduce water treatment costs by 25%
The LIFE-RENEWAT project aims to synchronise waste water treatment plants with the availability of in-plant renewable energy sources integrated to reduce their energy dependence by up to 30%. A reduction of dependence on conventional electricity grids would imply a reduction of a quarter of the cost of treated water. The pilot project is being implemented … Continue reading Acciona Agua leads a european R&D project to reduce water treatment costs by 25%
Continue readingRising energy demand a threat to water supplies
Rising demand for energy, from biofuels to shale gas, nuclear power, coal and oil, is a threat to freshwater supplies that are already under strain from climate change, the United Nations said in a report on Friday. It urged energy companies to do more to limit the use of water in everything from cooling coal-fired … Continue reading Rising energy demand a threat to water supplies
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Solar power toilet minus water
A waterless toilet powered by the sun and developed by American scientists, and a toilet that uses water from air and has been developed by a Kerala-based research company, are among technologies to be unveiled in Delhi later this month. The innovations are among 16 from across the world funded by a Bill and Melinda … Continue reading Solar power toilet minus water
Continue readingWind energy, which uses no water, avoids the use of 1.2 billion m³ of water per year
Nuclear, coal and gas plants in Europe use 4.5 billion m³ of water a year, equivalent to that of 82 million EU citizens – the same as the population of Germany – new research shows. Energy production represents 44% of the EU’s total water use: more than any other activity. Yet wind energy, which uses … Continue reading Wind energy, which uses no water, avoids the use of 1.2 billion m³ of water per year
Continue readingWind energy key to ‘€2.4bn EU water savings’
Wind power plays a major role in helping the EU save vast amounts of water used by power stations used to generate energy, a new report claims. The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) calculated out of all the water used directly and indirectly in the EU, the highest amount (44%) is used in power production … Continue reading Wind energy key to ‘€2.4bn EU water savings’
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Wind Power Helps Preserve Water Resources
Energy and water are very closely linked, but those links are often overlooked, according to Stacy Tellinghuisen, Western Resource Advocates’ senior energy and water policy analyst. Tellinghuisen works to promote energy policies that reduce the energy sector’s impact on water resources. Most forms of electricity require water, Tellinghuisen says, and thermal electric power plants use … Continue reading Wind Power Helps Preserve Water Resources
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Peak Water: What Happens When the Wells Go Dry?
Peak oil has generated headlines in recent years, but the real threat to our future is peak water. There are substitutes for oil, but not for water. We can produce food without oil, but not without water. We drink on average four liters of water per day, in one form or another, but the food … Continue reading Peak Water: What Happens When the Wells Go Dry?
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The fact that wind power and solar energy use virtually no water may become a deciding factor
In a white paper entitled “Water may top the case for renewables,” Mr. Liebreich comments, “The other critical issue missing from the U.S. presidential election battle is water–particularly as U.S. Drought Monitor reports that nearly two-thirds of the nation is now suffering from moderate to exceptional drought conditions. The fact that wind and solar energy … Continue reading The fact that wind power and solar energy use virtually no water may become a deciding factor
Continue readingWater: The Hidden Costs of Electricity: Comparing the Hidden Costs of Power Generation Fuels
Six fuels used to generate electricity — biomass, coal, nuclear, natural gas, solar (photovoltaic and concentrating solar power), and wind energy (both onshore and offshore) – are analyzed in the following categories: water impacts, impacts, air pollution impacts, planning and cost risk, subsidies and tax incentives, land impacts, and other impacts. 100,000 Gallons of Water to … Continue reading Water: The Hidden Costs of Electricity: Comparing the Hidden Costs of Power Generation Fuels
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Considering water use and wind energy
A recent Lincoln Journal Star editorial “Plan for next drought” (LJS, Aug. 21) appropriately stated that Nebraska “should spur adoption of better water conservation practices in the public and private spheres.” Nebraska public power entities are reviewing their electricity generation portfolios and determining what role — if any — wind and other renewable energy will … Continue reading Considering water use and wind energy
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