The Wire

Water usage has been neglected in our evaluation of carbon cutting strategies, say researchers. They’re trying to fill in the blanks with research that evaluates the water usage of major carbon abatement projects.

We’ve all heard of many of the most common ways of reducing emissions – wind power, energy efficiency, planting trees… but have you thought about how much water each of these things might use? If you haven’t, you’re not alone. Researchers say that most policy on climate change hasn’t paid enough attention to how much water will be used up – or saved – by projects that are designed to cut our carbon emissions.