As the United States' extended heat wave and drought
threaten to raise global food prices, energy production is also feeling
the pressure. Across the nation, power plants are becoming overheated
and shutting down or running at lower capacity; drilling operations
struggle to get the water they need, and crops that would become biofuel
are withering.
While analysts say the US should
survive this year without major blackouts, more frequent droughts and
increased population size will continue to strain power generation in
the future.
Power plants are a hidden casualty of
droughts, says Barbara Carney of the National Energy Technology
Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia, because they are
completely dependent on water for cooling and make up about half the
water usage in the US. That makes them vulnerable in a heat wave. If
water levels in the rivers that cool them drop too low, the power plant –
already overworked from the heat – won't be able to draw in enough
water. In addition, if the cooling water discharged from a plant raises
already-hot river temperatures above certain thresholds, environmental
regulations require the plant to shut down.
At least four nuclear plants had to shut down in July
for these reasons. Nationwide, nuclear generation is at its lowest in a
decade, with the plants operating at only 93 per cent of capacity.
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