Estimated water withdrawals in the U.S., 1950–2005

In 2005, half of U.S. water withdrawals were made by the electricity sector. A “business-as-usual” U.S. electricity future will increase reliance on large thermal power plants and keep water demands high.

 

Where does the money go

Despite large aggregate expenditures on buildings, average U.S. consumers spend only ~4% of their total budget on fuel and electricity bills. Consumers have little incentive to reduce their energy bills, despite a variety of ways to do so profitably.

 

Category expenses by building type for commercial sector

For commercial buildings, energy and water are 22% of total operating expenses.

 

Overnight capital cost for U.S. pressurized-water reactors

Unlike solar and windpower, which have had orders-of-magnitude reduction in cost as experience and manufacturing have scaled, the cost of building a nuclear reactor has increased over time. A reactor ordered today is 5–8 times more expensive per watt of capacity than a reactor built in the 1970s.

 

U.S. renewable energy potential

Considering budding technologies that could be commercially available in the future, the potential U.S. generation capacity from renewables is overwhelming. Wave and tidal generators, offshore deep-water wind farms, and enhanced geothermal power (which uses the Earth's heat but doesn’t require a natural steam source) are all in development and represent a huge potential energy resource.