Yahoo – AFP,
22 March 2016
 |
Coal plants
use water at almost every step of the process, from mining and
washing coal to
the treatment of combustion waste (AFP Photo/Patrik Stollarz)
|
Coal plants
are draining an already dwindling global water supply, Greenpeace warned on
Tuesday, consuming enough to meet the basic needs of one billion people and
deepening a worldwide crisis.
Announcing
its first global plant-by-plant study, Greenpeace said coal power use will
increase with newly built plants, causing "huge stress" on the
world's major river basins and threatening communities.
In its
report "The Great Water Grab: How the Coal Industry is Deepening the
Global Water Crisis", released in Hong Kong, the environmental activist
group urged governments to stop depending on coal, a major source of
electricity and a pollutant.
 |
China's
rise to become the world's
second-largest economy was largely
powered by cheap,
dirty coal (AFP
Photo/Johannes Eisele)
|
Coal plants
use water at almost every step of the process, from mining and washing coal to
the treatment of combustion waste, the report said.
"By
choosing to continue huge investments in coal to power their economies for
decades to come, governments would commit the world to a future of an ever more
desperate fight for scarce water resources," the report said.
The
watchdog looked at data from the world's 8,359 coal plants and information on
another 2,600 planned plants.
It found
that the existing plants "consume enough water to meet the basic water
needs of over one billion people".
More than a
quarter of the existing and proposed plants were located in what they described
as a red-list of "over-withdrawal" areas, where water resources are
being used faster than they can be replenished.
Over 40
percent of planned and existing plants are in areas categorised as "high
water stress".
It named
China, India and Turkey as three countries that have the most planned plants on
areas that are running dry.
China's
rise to become the world's second-largest economy was largely powered by cheap,
dirty coal. Although the world's top greenhouse gas emitter has in recent years
taken strides into renewable options, it still relies heavily on coal to power
its industries and heat homes.
"Policy
makers are not aware how much water is being used by coal plants," Harri
Lammi, a Greenpeace senior global campaigner on coal, told AFP.
"Huge
numbers of people" could be threatened, losing farms and ground water, if
coal power expansion continues, he said.
The report
added that countries were also risking their economies and social stability as
they faced "stark choices" over allocating water supplies to the coal
industry or to meet people's basic needs.
It urged
governments to switch to renewable energy, which requires less water, and to
prevent proposed coal plants in red-list areas from going ahead.
Plants in
the most at-risk areas should be phased out and facilities over 40 years old
should be retired, it said.
Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.
Water
We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet.
There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”
Related Articles:
California governor orders water restrictions amid historic drought
Time now to act on looming water crisis, UN warns
Time now to act on looming water crisis, UN warns
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“… 4 - Energy (again)
The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!
The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!
Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.
Water
We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet.
There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.