The Many Benefits Of New Energy

Renewable Energy Saves Water and Creates Jobs; Eight graphs tell the story; see for yourself

Luciano Castillo, Walter Gutierrez, Jay Gore, August 7, 2018 (Scientific American)

“Only about 3 percent of the Earth’s water is freshwater…[and, in] the U.S., 45.3 percent of the water withdrawn from lakes, rivers and underground aquifers is used to cool off thermoelectric power plants: nuclear reactors and plants that burn fossil fuels...This is more water than used nationwide [public consumption or] for irrigation…[It] threatens the U.S. water supply…[To conserve] freshwater, it seems clear that the country should shift toward renewables. This move would make more freshwater available for food production and human consumption…

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…[And] expanding renewables creates far more jobs than expanding fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants combined. Some of the benefit is from construction jobs to build out solar infrastructure. U.S. coal and oil jobs have been disappearing, and the delivery and burning of more natural gas adds few jobs because the operations are highly automated, requiring few people…Solar jobs pay roughly the same median salaries as fossil fuel jobs…Wind jobs pay less, on average…[The levelized cost of electricity from solar panels and wind (on land) is very similar to that of natural gas…[and] less than that from nuclear and especially clean coal…[which means a shift to renewable energy in the U.S. can greatly reduce water use, lower carbon dioxide emissions, create new high-paying jobs and keep electricity costs low…” click here for more

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