Climate Action
Powering the Future Without Draining the Planet
March 22, 2025
The transition to renewable energy isn’t just about slashing carbon emissions – it’s also a game-changer for water conservation because a clean energy grid has the power to reduce water use in the energy sector by up to 95% in the United States alone.
Extractive processes in the fossil fuel industry, like drilling and fracking, consume a staggering amount of water, millions of gallons of per well. Not only that, they inject chemical-filled water deep underground which depletes clean water resources and poses a serious threat to local groundwater, risking contamination and knock on long-term environmental harm. Similarly, fossil fuel power plants devour billions of gallons of water for their cooling systems by siphoning from rivers and lakes only to later on in the process discharge it back in to the environment laden with toxins.
Understanding how these water guzzling processes operate reveals the staggering scale of the fossil fuel industry’s water dependence – and the urgent need for cleaner alternatives like solar and wind energy generation.
Burning Through Water: How Fossil Fuels Plants Drain Water
The fossil fuel industry’s reliance on water extends deep into the power generation process, with cooling systems at coal and oil plants using billions of gallons of every single day. These plants need water to cool the steam used in electricity generation, preventing turbines from overheating to ensure their system can run continuously.
Here’s how it works: Once-through cooling is a process that involves draining huge volumes of water from our rivers, lakes, or oceans, to cool steam generated by power plants, then discharging it back from where it was taken but at much high temperatures.
This leads to what is called thermal pollution, which disrupts aquatic ecosystems. The short-term effects of this are heat shock to fish and other aquatic organisms, which can cause death or severe physiological stress. Long-term, this leads to biodiversity loss, harmful algal blooms, and altered reproductive cycles in marine life.
90% of the United States’ electricity comes from these power plants, which consume nearly 133 billion gallons of water per day, with cooling systems accounting for 96%. That’s enough to provide every person on Earth with more than 16 gallons of water daily!
Climate change is intensifying droughts and exacerbating water shortages, meanwhile the fossil fuel plants continue to use limited freshwater resources. But there’s a solution: renewable energy. Unlike coal and gas, wind and solar can generate power without guzzling billions of gallons of water, offering a way to break free from this overconsumption and safeguard our most precious resource.
Fracking’s Thirst
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a method used to extract oil and natural gas trapped deep underground in shale rock formations. The process involves injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into the rock, creating fractures that allow fossil fuels to flow to the surface.
A single fracking well can consume anywhere from 1.5 million to 16 million gallons of water. Again this water is taken from local lakes, rivers, or municipal supplies, but in many cases, it is also drawn directly from underground aquifers, further depleting already scarce groundwater reserves.
It is rare that this water makes it back into the hydrological cycle. Once injected deep underground, much of it becomes permanently contaminated with toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and even radioactive materials released from shale formations.
While some of the water can be treated and reused for fracking, this process is costly and limited. Instead, the wastewater is typically disposed of in deep injection wells where it is pumped deep underground into porous rock formations.
This poses major risks as injection wells have the potential to leak into local aquifers. In 2024, a study in Crane County, Texas, revealed that wastewater injected into deep disposal wells had leaked into shallower underground formations, leaking wastewater for nearly three years. After migrating through surface pathways and accumulating in a nearby aquifer several kilometers away, this contamination raised serious concerns about the safety of local water supplies and the potential long-term impacts on drinking water quality. The town is still in the process of determining how to treat affected water sources, but the complexity of deep aquifer pollution makes remediation extremely difficult.
Beyond the risks associated with injection wells and wastewater management, the drilling and fracking process itself can also threaten groundwater supplies. Towns such as Dimock, Pennsylvania, and Pavillion, Wyoming, have become ground zero for fracking-related water contamination. Both communities experienced widespread water pollution that threatened public health and forced families to rely on bottled water or expensive water treatment systems. Despite happening over a decade ago, groundwater contamination is still present in Dimock, and residents continue to suffer the consequences of polluted water supplies.
Thanks to legal loopholes that shield the industry from oversight, it is especially difficult to hold oil and gas companies accountable for this contamination. The Halliburton Loophole, a provision in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, exempts fracking from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Without meaningful oversight, corporations continue to exploit water resources, leaving communities to deal with the irreversible consequences of polluted aquifers, undrinkable water, and mounting health concerns.
Clean Energy Solutions That Won’t Leave Us High and Dry
Practically, the only use for water in solar energy production is for cleaning purposes. As dust accumulates on solar panels, it obstructs sunlight and reduces their efficiency in generating electricity. It is estimated that this process uses roughly 10 billion gallons of water a year, but if we compare this to fossil fuel energy plants, this is less than a tenth of what they use daily!
By this metric, a switch to solar has the potential to save a single household anywhere from 16,200 to 53,000 gallons of water a year. On a national scale, this could free up billions of gallons of freshwater annually!
Wind energy, on the other hand, uses virtually no water at all. Unlike fossil fuels, which require water for extraction and constant cooling, wind turbines generate electricity without any reliance on water, making them one of the most sustainable energy sources available.
Beyond just reducing emissions, shifting away from fossil fuels has far-reaching implications for water conservation. As water scarcity grows globally, expanding wind and solar power could play a crucial role in safeguarding water security for future generations. This World Water Day is a reminder that energy and water are deeply connected, and the transition to renewables offers a path toward greater sustainability.
The shift to renewable energy is not just a technological change, it’s a commitment to protecting our planet’s most vital resources. The water crisis and climate crisis are deeply intertwined, and solutions exist… but they require collective action.
Now is the time to push for policies that prioritize sustainable energy and water conservation. If you’re ready to take action, join us for Earth Action Day to amplify the call for renewable energy, send letters to lawmakers, and protect our water future. Every action counts, and together, we can protect our water and planet.
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