What are the environmental impact of concentrated solar energy in terms of water usage? what is the (gal/MWh)?
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Concentrated solar energy technologies have varying environmental impacts in terms of water usage. The water consumption for concentrated solar power plants ranges from 4.7 L/kWh for a parabolic trough plant with thermal storage to about 4000 L MW−1 h−1 for large-scale plants using wet cooling technology . Water is primarily utilized for cooling the system and cleaning mirror surfaces, with efforts to reduce consumption through the development of alternative cooling technologies like air cooling . Additionally, the impact on water usage can differ based on the technology employed, plant size, and geographic location, showcasing the variability in water consumption across different concentrated solar power systems.
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01 Jan 2010 9 Citations | The environmental impact of concentrated solar energy includes 4.7 L/kWh of water consumption, equivalent to 4.7 gal/MWh in a hypothetical 103 MW parabolic trough CSP plant with thermal energy storage. |
35 Citations | Concentrated solar power plants in northwestern China consume about 4000 L MW−1 h−1 of water, equivalent to approximately 1056 gal/MWh when using wet cooling technology. |
23 Mar 2019 | The environmental impact of concentrated solar power plants includes water usage for cooling and mirror cleaning. Water consumption ranges from 0.5 to 2.5 gal/MWh depending on plant size and technology. |
2 Citations | Not addressed in the paper. |
| Not addressed in the paper. |
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