Insight
Webber: Rich nations waste food at consumption; poor nations at harvest
“Food waste happens in a different stage of the supply chain in the United States compared to, say, a poorer country. So in the United States, we have a very robust cold chain, which is good news, but that means we're wasting the food on our plate. Like, we're …”
Assertion Supported
Webber: Corn-based ethanol currently displaces 10% of US gasoline consumption
“Like, there are other ways to displace 10% of our gasoline consumption, which is about where we are with corn-based ethanol.”
Assertion Supported
Webber: Extreme Texas heat is forcing ranchers to sell underweight cattle
“We're having massive agricultural losses in Texas right now from the heat wave and drought. They can't get the feed for the cattle, so they take cattle to market before they're at full weight, so they get less money.”
Assertion Supported
Webber: The Netherlands is the world's second-largest food exporter by value
“The Netherlands is, I think, the number two exporter of food by value around the world, because they grow a lot of high-value crops, flowers, and fruits and vegetables in an indoor setting.”
Insight
Webber: Agrivoltaics create a symbiotic cooling and shading effect for crops
“That's like a whole field of agrivoltaics, where you have solar voltaics together with farming, and you get these interesting things where you're getting electricity out plus food, and the plants cool the panels, so the panels are more efficient and productive…”
Assertion Supported
Webber: About 13% of US energy consumption goes to water and steam
“If you look at the United States as an example, we use about a hundred quads of energy, a hundred quadrillion BTU of energy. BTU is a British thermal unit of energy. About 13% of that energy is for water and steam.”
Assertion Supported
Webber: About a third of US energy boils water in power plants
“It's like a third of our energy consumption in the United States just goes to boil water to make steam in power plants.”
Assertion Contradicted
Webber: Coal plants now store only 15 to 30 days of coal
“And these coal plants in the old days maybe stored 60 days worth of coal on site. These days they store like 15 to 30 days.”
Assertion Supported
Webber: Agriculture is the top net water consumer, ahead of cities and power
“If you look at consumption, how much water is consumed, agriculture is the biggest consumer, and then cities, then the power sector.”
Insight
Webber: Energy costs make up about half of municipal water bills
“Rule of thumb is about half, depends on where you are. So your water bill depends on where you are. My water bill in Austin, Texas is about a hundred bucks a month. It's a lot cheaper in other parts of the United States because water is scarce in Texas, so it'…”
Assertion Supported
Webber: Water inputs cost only $0.50 to $1 per barrel of oil
“The water bill for energy is not substantial. Usually the water is cheap. So if you're producing oil and gas, the amount of extra money you pay for water, it's something you notice. It might be 50 cents a barrel or a dollar a barrel, something like that, but t…”
Assertion Supported
Webber: Water-scarce regions already use desalination despite high electricity costs
“We don't have to wait for the far future for desalination. It's already happening today in Israel and In parts of California, and inland Texas, and Israel, and Australia. So places that are water scarce already do some desalination. Even if the electricity is …”
Assertion Supported
Webber: French nuclear plants curtailed output due to drought in 2022
“You cannot get the water you need to cool your nuclear power plants in France so they are dialing back or turning off.”
Assertion Supported
Webber: Texas 2021 storm left 14 million under boil-water notices
“And we had that in Texas where we first had a power outage, ten million people without power, but then we had fourteen million people under a boil water notification, Because the water wasn't safe to drink because the water and wastewater treatment plants didn…”
Assertion Supported
Webber: US water usage and withdrawal data is released only every 5-10 years
“The water side is much less sophisticated, and the information about water quantities that are used in the United States are released every five or 10 years. Same with water withdrawals.”
Dr. Michael Webber