Factlet of the Day: Power Plants and Freshwater Use

—By

| Mon Jun. 4, 2012 4:05 PM PDT

From Brad Plumer:

In the United States, coal, gas and nuclear plants account for roughly 40 percent of the nation’s freshwater use, drawing from rivers and lakes to prevent their turbines from overheating.

I did not know that. That's as much as the entire agricultural sector uses. Personal use accounts for about 14% of total freshwater consumption in the United States.

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