The Great Lakes of North America form the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world, holding more than 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater and 95 percent of North America’s. Despite the incalculable value of this resource, they’re in serious trouble. Climate change, invasive species, and wetland loss all taking a terrible toll on a watershed that provides life to so many people and species. Now, companies are using the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway as a carbon corridor for a newly aggressive North American energy industry. This poses the greatest threat yet to these waters.
Sucking oil and gas from dense shale formations involves drilling, explosions, toxic chemicals, and millions of gallons of water pumped at crushing pressures. Drillers maintain that these processes are well understood and tightly controlled and take place far below groundwater supplies. But ultimately the safety and quality of a well is dependent on the operator, the particularities of each site, local regulations and politics, and many other details. As water constitutes the largest component of fracking fluid by far, it is not surprising that questions about the quantity and quality of water used by drillers have been contentious.
Until recently, water has been one of the ignored components of power generation, but that’s changing. In 2013, the World Bank launched its Thirsty Energy program to develop solutions to electricity demands on global water supplies. The U.S. Department of Energy followed suit by releasing a similar initiative in 2014. Now that we see the connections between water and energy, let’s work with utilities and governments to build an integrated, resilient, and sustainable system that safeguards our resources.
What will it take to drive the large-scale transition to solar power? Rachel’s Network explores this question with Julia Hamm, president and CEO of the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and one of the world’s foremost experts on the nexus between utilities and solar energy. In this Q&A, Julia shares how SEPA helps utilities integrate solar energy into their portfolios, her successes, and inspiration.
Alison Kay believes that the importance of having diversity in the senior management team is being overlooked by the power and utilities industry at a time when it needs new approaches to resolve the energy trilemma: how to provide energy that’s available, affordable and environmentally sustainable, all at the same time.
