October 11, 2009
Britain's Central Planning Death Panels
October 11, 2009
Free Market M.D.
October 11, 2009
Economies of Scale in Compliance
October 11, 2009
Balan's Challenge
October 10, 2009
The Pleasure of Telling Others What to Do
October 10, 2009
Gonick the Great - and How He Could Have Been Greater
October 9, 2009
More Scott Sumner
October 9, 2009
Not From The Onion
October 9, 2009
Thoughts on a Second Stimulus
Not low flow toilets!
"About 195 Bgal/d, or 48 percent of all freshwater and saline-water withdrawals for 2000, were used for thermoelectric power. Most of this water was derived from surface water and used for once-through cooling at power plants. About 52 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals and about 96 percent of saline-water withdrawals were for thermoelectric-power use. Withdrawals for thermoelectric power have been relatively stable since 1985."
This is very misleading. If a powerplant draws in water for cooling, it isn't "used" in the same sense that water for agriculture or drinking is used. The power plant most likely releases most or all of that water back into the body of water from which it was taken.
In the "most" case, when you have a cooling tower some of the cooling water is lost to evaporation, maybe 30% worst case scenario. Even then, 70% would be release back into the reservoir from which it was taken.
The only difference from the water released from the water drawn is the temperature of that water.
Certainly not those stupid toilets you have to flush twice.