Getting oil out of the ground requires water. And as oil supplies are depleted, this process requires more and more water. It turns out that nowadays oil companies are using a TON of water,.. (to access precious oil for our gas-guzzling cars).
“Oil companies are grabbing an increasing share of the water in California’s Central Valley. Last year, oil companies took 83% of the district’s water allocation, according to new data published by High Country News,” Susan Kraemer of our sister site Cleantechnica writes.
“In Kern County, California, it now takes 8 barrels of fresh water to get out 1 single barrel of oil. Twenty five years ago, in 1985, when oil was plentiful, it took only about half that amount, four and a half barrels of water. We are scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
In general, making energy from fossil fuels requires a ton of water. With droughts lasting up to 60 years expected to hit the U.S. in the near future, it seems that we had better find ways to decrease our water usage quick. Cutting our oil (and coal) production and use would be one big step in that direction.
Of course, it is easy to demonize the oil companies, but they are basically just supplying us with a product we demand.
71% of oil consumption in the U.S. is for transportation. For sure, most of that is for automobiles and planes. If you want to help save our water supply and reduce our oil consumption and needs, hop on a bike or transit next time you go out and hop on a train instead of a plane for long-distance trips.
Photo Credit: swisscan via flickr