A European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) report, Saving Water with Wind Energy, shows that thermal and nuclear generation uses around 44% of Europe’s total water resources, primarily as a cooling agent.

This water is calculated to be equivalent to the average annual household water use of 82 million European citizens — roughly the population of Germany.

“Every summer thousands of Europeans face hosepipe bans, while water equivalent to over three Olympic-size swimming pools is consumed every minute to cool Europe’s nuclear, coal and gas plants,” says EWEA environment and planning analyst Angeliki Koulouri.

“Wind