Fresh water is one of our most precious and threatened natural resources, yet in the US, most electricity still comes from thermoelectric power plants that consume massive volumes of water. Meanwhile, our electricity demands are growing with the rise of AI, which requires large amounts of energy for high-performance computing. As climate change and population growth further strain freshwater supplies, the way we generate electricity needs to change if we want to protect this precious resource.
Bloom Energy is meeting this challenge directly. Its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology generates clean, reliable electricity right where it’s needed and with almost zero water consumption. For businesses seeking both sustainability and resilience via on-site power, this is a breakthrough.
Why Power Generation Consumes So Much Water
Traditional thermoelectric plants—like coal, natural gas, nuclear, and even some renewables—rely on steam-driven turbines. That means they need vast quantities of water to produce steam and to cool their systems. According to the US Geological Survey, thermoelectric power generation accounts for about 40% of total freshwater withdrawals in the United States.
For example, a typical power plant can withdraw 43.8 liters of water per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated, or enough to fill dozens of bathtubs every minute. A portion of that water evaporates or is otherwise not returned to the source, driving up “consumptive use” that directly impacts rivers, lakes, and aquifers.
In an era when two-thirds of the global population experiences severe water scarcity for at least one month each year, this is a critical sustainability problem.
A Near-Zero Water Footprint
Bloom Energy Servers work differently. Instead of using combustion to create steam to drive a turbine connected to a generator, its SOFC technology uses an electrochemical process to convert fuel, such as natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen, directly into electricity.
No steam means no cooling towers. No cooling towers means virtually no water use. In fact, Bloom’s systems consume about one-thousandth of the water of conventional power plants (1.01 gallons/MWh vs. 830 gallons/MWh). For many businesses, switching to Bloom technology can reduce onsite water use for electricity generation by more than 99%.
That’s not just a sustainability win—it’s a business advantage, especially in water-stressed regions where conservation is a regulatory requirement or an operational necessity.
Water Savings in Action
Consider data centers. As AI adoption surges, the demand for water for cooling purposes is skyrocketing. A medium-sized data center might consume up to 110 million gallons of water per year, just for cooling. That’s nearly equivalent to the annual water use of 1,000 houses, and it doesn’t even take into account the water footprint of the power that the data center consumes.
Bloom’s technology not only eliminates the water used for electricity generation, but when paired with air-cooling or liquid-cooling systems, it can dramatically shrink a data center’s overall water footprint. The result: Businesses can power high-performance computing without deepening the water crisis.
Manufacturing facilities, hospitals, and university campuses also stand to benefit. These sectors often operate in regions facing water scarcity and are under pressure to cut consumption. Bloom Energy Servers can help them meet sustainability goals without sacrificing operational reliability.
Resilient Power Without Resource Trade-Offs
Reducing water use doesn’t have to mean reducing performance. Bloom Energy Servers deliver reliable, always-on power, even during grid outages. This means businesses don’t have to choose between sustainability and resilience—they can have both.
And because Bloom’s technology can run on biogas or hydrogen, it offers a pathway to zero-carbon electricity without shifting the environmental burden to another resource. In other words, it’s a solution that’s climate-friendly and water-wise.
A Smarter Path to Sustainability
Water scarcity is one of the defining environmental issues of our time. As industries adapt to climate challenges, they must “decouple” economic growth from water use. That’s exactly what Bloom Energy enables.
By replacing water-intensive, centralized power generation with clean, onsite Bloom Energy Servers, businesses can dramatically cut their water footprint, lower emissions, and boost energy resilience, all at the same time.
Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content. It is intended for promotional purposes and should not be considered as an endorsement or recommendation by our website. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise their own judgment before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article.
