This week is World Water
week (August 26-31 in Stockholm). The organisers Stockholm International
Water Institute have issued a report, ‘Feeding a thirsty world: Challenges and Opportunities for a
Water and
Food Secure Future’. The report points out that we do not have sufficient water
to produce the food needed to feed the estimated 9 billion global population by
2050 if current trends towards a western style diet high in animal protein
continue. However, our water resources would be just sufficient to feed that
population if animal protein was limited to 5% of our diet worldwide. In other words,
the whole population changed to a mainly vegetarian diet. For details of the report see:
Water for growing food will increasingly compete
with water for other needs. One industry with excessive water need is the
nuclear power industry. A report for the Australian Parliament ascertained that
nuclear power is the most water hungry form of power generation. Depending on whether
the nuclear power plant uses ‘once through’ or ‘closed systems’ to cool their reactors,
they consume between 33 – 50% more water than fossil fuel power plants. Despite
having 23% of the world’s uranium deposits, Australia still has no nuclear power
industry. For more detail
see: http://www.efmr.org/files/07rn12.pdf
In a
world of increasing water scarcity we can hardly afford to build power plants which
are going to consume a scarce resource which is needed for the basic task of
feeding the world. Why go nuclear when you can have renewable energy?
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