Solar panels produce electricity from light-- no turbines are involved, and no water.
Some solar power plants use mirrors instead of solar panels and the mirrors are used to focus the light and produce steam to power a turbine, but they do not use up water-- they are closed systems, the steam cools and condenses, and so they reuse the same water over and over.
Bottom line, solar does not use large amounts of water.
Nuclear-- promising, but it's too dangerous to build new nuclear plants anywhere near populated areas, IMO. There's been too many disasters already.
Natural gas is a very important fuel with a lot going for it. But I think that solar will be the #1 source of energy within my lifetime.
Been awhile since I have heard anyone mention fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel cells are not a primary source of energy-- they are like batteries, they have to be created by some other energy source. Improving battery technology has pretty much taken the luster off fuel cells for most people, but who knows what will develop in the future. If you really believe in fuel cells, you might want to consider putting a little fun money into a couple of the publicly traded fuel cell companies-- the biggest players are penny stocks now. I remember when companies like Ballard and FuelCell were high flying stocks at the end of the tech bubble... not anymore! Sales never achieved any kind of critical mass, and the companies weren't and aren't profitable. Ballard was once over $100 a share, now it's a buck and change a share. Ugly chart! Of course the charts of solar companies aren't much prettier, but unlike fuel cells, solar has become a big industry in terms of revenues, even though the individual companies are not profitable presently.
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