PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Natural gas saves water, even when factoring in water lost to hydraulic fracturing

2013-12-20
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Marc Airhart
mairhart@jsg.utexas.edu
512-471-2241
University of Texas at Austin
Natural gas saves water, even when factoring in water lost to hydraulic fracturing

A new study finds that in Texas, the U.S. state that annually generates the most electricity, the transition from coal to natural gas for electricity generation is saving water and making the state less vulnerable to drought.

Even though exploration for natural gas through hydraulic fracturing requires significant water consumption in Texas, the new consumption is easily offset by the overall water efficiencies of shifting electricity generation from coal to natural gas. The researchers estimate that water saved by shifting a power plant from coal to natural gas is 25 to 50 times as great as the amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing to extract the natural gas. Natural gas also enhances drought resilience by providing so-called peaking plants to complement increasing wind generation, which doesn't consume water.

The results of The University of Texas at Austin study are published this week in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The researchers estimate that in 2011 alone, Texas would have consumed an additional 32 billion gallons of water — enough to supply 870,000 average residents — if all its natural gas-fired power plants were instead coal-fired plants, even after factoring in the additional consumption of water for hydraulic fracturing to extract the natural gas.

Hydraulic fracturing is a process in which water, sand and chemicals are pumped at high pressure into a well to fracture surrounding rocks and allow oil or gas to more easily flow. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling are the main drivers behind the current boom in U.S. natural gas production.

Environmentalists and others have raised concerns about the amount of water that is consumed. In Texas, concerns are heightened because the use of hydraulic fracturing is expanding rapidly while water supplies are dwindling as the third year of a devastating drought grinds on. Because most electric power plants rely on water for cooling, the electric power supply might be particularly vulnerable to drought.

"The bottom line is that hydraulic fracturing, by boosting natural gas production and moving the state from water-intensive coal technologies, makes our electric power system more drought resilient," says Bridget Scanlon, senior research scientist at the university's Bureau of Economic Geology, who led the study.

To study the drought resilience of Texas power plants, Scanlon and her colleagues collected water use data for all 423 of the state's power plants from the Energy Information Administration and from state agencies including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Water Development Board, as well as other data.

Since the 1990s, the primary type of power plant built in Texas has been the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plant with cooling towers, which uses fuel and cooling water more efficiently than older steam turbine technologies. About a third of Texas power plants are NGCC. NGCC plants consume about a third as much water as coal steam turbine (CST) plants.

The other major type of natural gas plant in the state is a natural gas combustion turbine (NGCT) plant. NGCT plants can also help reduce the state's water consumption for electricity generation by providing "peaking power" to support expansion of wind energy. Wind turbines don't require water for cooling; yet wind doesn't always blow when you need electricity. NGCT generators can be brought online in a matter of seconds to smooth out swings in electricity demand. By combining NGCT generation with wind generation, total water use can be lowered even further compared with coal-fired power generation.

The study focused exclusively on Texas, but the authors believe the results should be applicable to other regions of the U.S., where water consumption rates for the key technologies evaluated — hydraulic fracturing, NGCC plants with cooling towers and traditional coal steam turbine plants — are generally the same.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manager of the state's electricity grid, projects that if current market conditions continue through 2029, 65 percent of new power generation in the state will come from NGCC plants and 35 percent from natural gas combustion turbine plants, which use no water for cooling, but are less energy efficient than NGCC plants.

"Statewide, we're on track to continue reducing our water intensity of electricity generation," says Scanlon.

Hydraulic fracturing accounts for less than 1 percent of the water consumed in Texas. But in some areas where its use is heavily concentrated, it strains local water supplies, as documented in a 2011 study by Jean-Philippe Nicot of the Bureau of Economic Geology. Because natural gas is often used far from where it is originally produced, water savings from shifting to natural gas for electricity generation might not benefit the areas that use more water for hydraulic fracturing.



INFORMATION:

Scanlon's co-authors at the Bureau of Economic Geology are Ian Duncan, research scientist, and Robert Reedy, research scientist associate. The bureau is a research unit in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin.

The Jackson School helped fund the research along with the State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery (STARR) program, a state-funded program managed by the Bureau of Economic Geology.

The University of Texas at Austin is committed to full transparency and disclosure. Bridget Scanlon has received research funding in the past from various governmental, nonprofit and private organizations such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, NASA, the National Science Foundation and Shell International Exploration and Production Inc. Ian Duncan has received research funding in the past from various governmental, nonprofit and private organizations such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the Sloan Foundation and Shell International Exploration and Production Inc. Robert Reedy has received research funding in the past from various governmental, nonprofit and private organizations such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Shell International Exploration and Production Inc.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Scientists decode serotonin receptor at room temperature

2013-12-20
Scientists decode serotonin receptor at room temperature X-ray laser opens up new paths for investigating biomolecules This news release is available in German. An international research team has decoded the molecular structure of the medically ...

Gladstone scientists discover how immune cells die during HIV infection; identify potential drug to block AIDS

2013-12-20
Gladstone scientists discover how immune cells die during HIV infection; identify potential drug to block AIDS Gladstone plans to launch Phase 2 trial with existing anti-inflammatory SAN FRANCISCO, CA—December 19, 2013—Research led by scientists at the Gladstone ...

Greater dietary fiber intake associated with lower risk of heart disease

2013-12-20
Greater dietary fiber intake associated with lower risk of heart disease As little as 1 extra portion of wholegrains plus more fruit and vegetables can decrease risk In recent years, a decline in both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease ...

Nearly 8 percent of hip implants not backed by safety evidence

2013-12-20
Nearly 8 percent of hip implants not backed by safety evidence Current device regulation process 'seems to be entirely inadequate,' warn researchers The researchers say the current regulation process "seems to be entirely inadequate" and they call for a ...

Government's voluntary approach to improving hospital food is not working, argues expert

2013-12-20
Government's voluntary approach to improving hospital food is not working, argues expert 3 out of 5 hospital meals found to contain more salt than a Big Mac In an article published on bmj.com today, she says the government has wasted more than £54 million ...

Many people with diabetes still lose vision, despite availability of vision-sparing treatment

2013-12-20
Many people with diabetes still lose vision, despite availability of vision-sparing treatment Researchers blame lack of education about advances in preventive care Despite recent advances in prevention and treatment of most vision loss attributed to diabetes, ...

Salty surprise -- ordinary table salt turns into 'forbidden' forms

2013-12-20
Salty surprise -- ordinary table salt turns into 'forbidden' forms High-pressure X-ray experiments violate textbook rules of chemistry This news release is available in German. High-pressure experiments with ordinary table salt have produced ...

The black-white infant mortality gap: Large, persistent and unpredictable

2013-12-20
The black-white infant mortality gap: Large, persistent and unpredictable EAST LANSING, Mich. — The unobservable factors that underpin the infant mortality gap between blacks and whites have persisted for more than 20 years and now appear to play a larger role than ...

Biologists find clues to a parasite's inconsistency

2013-12-20
Biologists find clues to a parasite's inconsistency CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite related to the one that causes malaria, infects about 30 percent of the world's population. Most of those people don't even know they are infected, but ...

Electron 'antenna' tunes in to physics beyond Higgs

2013-12-20
Electron 'antenna' tunes in to physics beyond Higgs Though it was hailed as a triumph for the "Standard Model" of physics – the reigning model of fundamental forces and particles – physicists were quick to emphasize that last year's discovery of the Higgs boson still ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

Healthy nutrition and physical lifestyle choices lower cancer mortality risk for survivors, new ACS study finds

[Press-News.org] Natural gas saves water, even when factoring in water lost to hydraulic fracturing