There are water consequences across every life cycle stage of coal‐fired electricity consumption, from production and processing to combustion, which have not been studied with regional specificity. There is often a spatial decoupling between where coal is produced and processed versus where it is combusted for power generation, complicating any analysis to estimate the life cycle water implications of electricity consumption. Furthermore, electricity generated by coal‐fired power plants can be consumed within its own balancing authority or exported to another balancing authority. This analysis spatially resolves the water consumed and water withdrawn for coal mining, coal preparation, and power plant cooling from 1) where the coal is mined to where the coal is burned for power production and 2) where the electricity is generated to where the electricity is consumed. Although the largest portion of coal consumed came from the Northern Great Plains province, coal from this region consumes the least amount of water for mining and preparation compared with other provinces. Water withdrawals for cooling power plants within each balancing authority are driven by cooling technology. Due to the interconnected grid, there can be differences between attributing water footprint at the producer level versus the consumer level.

中文翻译：

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在生产者，发电机和消费者之间按空间分配生命周期用水的美国燃煤电力

从生产，加工到燃烧，在燃煤电力消耗的每个生命周期阶段都有水的影响，尚未针对区域进行专门研究。在煤炭的生产和加工与燃烧的地方之间通常存在空间解耦，使估算能源消耗对生命周期的用水影响的任何分析变得复杂。此外，燃煤发电厂产生的电力可以在其自己的平衡机构内消耗，也可以输出到另一个平衡机构。该分析在空间上解析了煤炭开采，选煤，以及从1）开采煤炭到将煤燃烧用于发电的发电厂冷却以及2）从发电到消耗电力的发电厂冷却。尽管消耗的煤炭最大部分来自北部大平原省，但与其他省份相比，该地区的煤炭消耗的矿产和制备用水量最少。每个平衡机构内用于冷却电厂的取水都由冷却技术驱动。由于互连的网格，在生产者级别和消费者级别的水足迹归属之间可能存在差异。与其他省份相比，该地区的煤炭消耗的水量最少，用于开采和准备用水。每个平衡机构内用于冷却电厂的取水都由冷却技术驱动。由于互连的网格，在生产者级别和消费者级别的水足迹归属之间可能存在差异。与其他省份相比，该地区的煤炭消耗的水量最少，用于开采和准备用水。每个平衡机构内用于冷却电厂的取水都由冷却技术驱动。由于互连的网格，在生产者级别和消费者级别的水足迹归属之间可能存在差异。