Earth vs. Water

Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on a Need for Scarce Water

The German developer Solar Millennium hopes land in the valley, above, can be home to solar plants. Public opinion, partly because of water issues, appears to be split. | Isaac Brekken / NY Times

Todd Woody, The New York Times | Full Story | AMARGOSA VALLEY, Nev.—In a rural corner of Nevada reeling from the recession, a bit of salvation seemed to arrive last year. A German developer, Solar Millennium, announced plans to build two large solar farms here that would harness the sun to generate electricity, creating hundreds of jobs.

But then things got messy. The company revealed that its preferred method of cooling the power plants would consume 1.3 billion gallons of water a year, about 20 percent of this desert valley’s available water.

“When push comes to shove, water could become the real throttle on renewable energy,” said Michael E. Webber, an assistant professor at the University of Texas in Austin who studies the relationship between energy and water. >>

Published 09.09.30 00:00:00 -0500 GMT | Posted by Andrew Garib on 09.09.30 | |

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