360
13.2.3.4 Example Metrics for a Thermal Power Plant
Water consumption is required for the cooling of coal, nuclear, natural gas, and
biomass-fired power plants that use steam cycles. We use this energy–water example
to demonstrate an example of each scale and taxonomic class of metric combination
for the same technology (see Table 13.2). At the establishment level (e.g., the power
plant), the volume of water consumed or withdrawn per unit of electricity generated
[m
3
/kWh] is an absolute–intensive metric, as is the cost [$/m
3
] of obtaining and
delivering water to the power plant. This cost can dictate the type of cooling system
one might design for the power plant—for example, for a new power plant a cost of
>∼1$/m
3
could incentivize the use of a dry cooling tower versus a wet cooling
tower (King 2014). In principle, a high cost of water would be representative of a
region in which a high percentage of available water (a relative–extensive metric) is
already allocated to all uses.
Table 13.2 Example (energy–water) metrics for each taxonomic class, at both the establishment
and meso/macro scale level, for a thermal power plant
M. Carbajales-Dale and C. W. King