January 2nd, 2012
Via The New York Times, a reminder that the watergy nexus challenge posed by fracking is not solely a domestic issue. As the article notes: Covering much of the roughly 800 miles between Johannesburg and Cape Town, this arid expanse — its name means “thirsty land” — sees less rain in some parts than the […]
Read more »How Much Dam Energy Can We Get?
December 27th, 2011
Via GigaOm, an interesting look at the energy potential of hydropower and its role vis-a-vis other renewable resources: Having now sorted solar, wind, and tidal power into three “boxes,” let’s keep going and investigate another source of non-fossil energy and put it in a box. Today we’ll look at hydroelectricity. As one of the earliest […]
Read more »December 18th, 2011
Via The San Angelos Standard Times, an article on the oil industry’s focus on water use, especially in light of fracking. As the report notes: “…Estimates of how much water will be used in Texas in the coming decades to extract oil and gas from the ground were lowballed, and the petroleum industry needs to […]
Read more »Watergy Nexus: Challenges
December 13th, 2011
Via CleanTechies, a look at the challenges of the watergy nexus, particularly as the cost of energy to obtain fresh water keeps rising. For example, as the article notes: “…on average, for every barrel of oil currently recovered, eight barrels of wastewater are also generated. That’s quite a statistic, and probably one not many people […]
Read more »November 26th, 2011
Via The Denver Post, a revealing look at the water required for hydraulic fracking along Colorado’s Front Range: Oil and gas drillers have bought at least 500 million gallons of water this year from cities for use in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” along Colorado’s Front Range. Now they need more. It’s the only way they’ll […]
Read more »Houston, We Have A Problem: The Watergy Nexus Crisis in Texas
November 23rd, 2011
Via Grist.org, a report on the looming watergy nexus crisis facing Texas. “…In case anyone missed it, Texas had a big drought last summer — the worst one-year droughtin the state’s history. Lakes dried, animals were slaughtered, cities imposed lawn-watering restrictions, the governor prayed for rain. Among the doom-and-gloom sector of the left, talk has […]
Read more »