Most people don’t think about where their energy comes from when they flick a light switch, turn on a hair dryer, or power up the blender for a fresh smoothie (speaking of which, I can’t wait to try this new avocado smoothie recipe…but I digress.)

If you happen to be one of the energy conscious, as I am, you may realize the environmental impact of your personal energy use. Maybe this is why you support renewable energy. Or, maybe you support it because it’s fun, or your daughter thinks it’s important, or just because it feels good.  Either way, supporting renewable energy generation, like wind power, does make a difference for our environment – especially when it comes to water conservation.

In order to meet the energy needs of our nation, we rely mostly on non-renewable sources of power like coal and nuclear energy.  It turns out these conventional power plants are actually some of the largest water users in the U.S. because they suck up water for steam and cooling.  According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), to generate the same amount of electricity as a single 1.5 megawatt wind turbine (which can power about 250-300 typical homes a year), a fossil-fuel or nuclear power plant would consume about 90 million gallons of water a year from rivers and aquifers. That amount of water would fill 136 Olympic size swimming pools. Kind of startling isn’t it?  Especially for someone like me who catches every drip from my (sometimes) leaky faucet.

So supporting wind power is more than just making a choice for cleaner air and energy independence. It conserves our very valuable water resources.  As climate change presses on, these resources become even more important – particularly in arid areas and in times of drought.