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Switching To Wind Energy Could Also Save Billions Of Gallons Of Water
A new report from the US Department Of Energy has detailed the health and environmental benefits of ramping up the wind energy .
The report details the benefits of replacing fossil fuels with wind turbines that create carbon dioxide free energy.
Fossil fuel power plants consume huge amounts of water for cooling. If wind supplied a third of the nation’s electricity by 2050, it would save an estimated 260 billion gallons of water a year. That’s just what California currently uses in about a week, but the savings could have significant local impacts where water shortages are severe.
“Wind’s environmental benefits can address key societal challenges such as climate change, air quality and public health, and water scarcity,” the report states. “Wind deployment can provide U.S. jobs, U.S. manufacturing, and lease and tax revenues in local communities to strengthen and support a transition of the nation’s electricity sector toward a low-carbon economy.”
The drop in greenhouse gas emissions from ramping up wind energy would save $400 billion in climate change–related costs between 2013 and 2050, the Energy Department estimated. Tearing down smokestacks and putting up turbine towers would cut air pollution–related health costs by $108 billion during the same period.
(Map: Courtesy Energy.gov)
Read more at the original article. Feature image from the original article (Photo: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
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