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Water use by solar projects intensifies

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 27, 2009 at 7:42 am

solar panelsFrom the New York Times Green, Inc. blog:

“The West’s water wars are likely to intensify with Pacific Gas and Electric’s announcement Monday that the utility will buy 500 megawatts of electricity from two solar power plant projects to be built in the California desert.

The Genesis Solar Energy Project would consume an estimated 536 million gallons of water a year while the Mojave Solar Project would pump 705 million gallons annually for power plant cooling, according to applications filed with the California Energy Commission.

With 35 big solar farm projects undergoing licensing or planned for arid regions of California alone, water is emerging as a contentious issue.

The Genesis and Mojave projects will use solar trough technology that deploys long rows of parabolic mirrors to heat a fluid to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine. The steam must be condensed back into water and cooled for re-use. …”

Read more from the New York Times Green, Inc. by clicking here.

October 27, 2009 · Filed Under Groundwater

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One Response to “Water use by solar projects intensifies”

  1. Solar Farms in the Central Valley will be water intensive « TO WHOM THIS CONCERNS: on November 14th, 2009 9:04 am

    [...] Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 27, 2009 at 7:42 am (http://aquafornia.com/archives/14215) [...]

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