Energy sector's water footprint set to rise

New research suggests that rising global energy demand could lead to an increase in the water footprint of the energy sector of up to 66% in the next 20 years

According to the study, which is published in Sustainability, average energy demand will increase from 81.2 gigajoules (GJ) per person in 2012 to 96 GJ in 2035, and the impact on water use will depend on the mix of energy technologies in use.

Although all forms of energy generation require water, total demand varies significantly between energy sources.

The researchers report that the water footprint of coal-fired energy generation, for example, is between 0.15–0.58m3 of water to produce one gigajoule of energy, while the amount of water consumed by wind power is as low as 0.0001m3/GJ.