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Thursday, May 28th, 2015

The U.S. Could Get a Third of Its Electricity From Wind Power—and Save Billions of Gallons of Water

Author:     Todd Woody
Source:     Takepart
Publication Date:     May 26, 2015
 Link: The U.S. Could Get a Third of Its Electricity From Wind Power—and Save Billions of Gallons of Water
Stephan:   To anyone who spends an hour Googling alternative energy data it is obvious how quickly the conversion out of the carbon era could actually go if the will was there. When you think about this, and place it in context with the $5.3 trillion dollars of annual subsidies to the fossil fuel industry you can easily see how blatantly the game is rigged to benefit the few and slight the many while damaging the Earth.

wind-energy-2050Could the United States get as much as 35 percent of its electricity from wind power within 35 years?

Absolutely, says the U.S. Department of Energy in a new report that details the benefits of replacing fossil fuel power plants with millions of wind turbines generating carbon-free electricity. (emphasis added)

Like perhaps longer showers in drought-stricken regions.

Fossil fuel power plants consume huge amounts of water for cooling. If wind supplied a third of the nation’s electricity by 2050, it would save an estimated 260 billion gallons of water a year. That’s just what California currently uses in about a week, but the savings could have significant local impacts where water shortages are severe.

“Wind’s environmental benefits can address key societal challenges such as climate change, air quality and public health, and water scarcity,” the report states. “Wind deployment can provide U.S. jobs, U.S. manufacturing, and lease and tax revenues in local communities to strengthen and support a transition of the nation’s electricity sector toward a low-carbon economy.”

The drop in greenhouse gas emissions from ramping up wind energy […]

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