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POCATELLO - Harold Blackman informed the public that the human population worldwide will grow to an estimated 9 billion people by 2050, and water resources will need to meet that growth.

Blackman, the director for the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in Idaho Falls, delivered the keynote address Wednesday evening for the annual Frank Church Symposium at Idaho State University. The event this year focuses on energy and Blackman spoke to a crowd in the Pond Student Union Building.

Blackman said water and energy work together in a cycle where water is needed to produce energy, which is in turn employed to pump the water that humans consume. But with the challenges of rapid population growth, he said water resources are becoming increasingly stretched as the world consumes them for both electricity and irrigation.

Blackman's presentation highlighted the rate of population growth in conjunction with the amount of energy needed to be produced in the future.

For example, some of Blackman's figures showed that the growing population will require 393,000 megawatts of new electricity generating capacity by 2020. He said that demand requires the addition of 1,300 to 1,900 power plants.

"You cannot really talk about (water or energy) without talking about the other," he said. "Without the power you cannot produce the water."

While he noted the rising demand for water, Blackman also presented some facts on alternative energy, which he stressed will lower the country's dependence on foreign oil and help the local economy grow.

Blackman discussed the pros and cons for oil, biofuel, wind, solar, coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. He said alternative energy cannot entirely meet the demands of rapid population growth, but added that a balanced approach to the sources will offer major benefits both environmentally and economically.

Blackman particularly touted the need for more nuclear energy, which he considered to be an unpopular topic among socio-political circles due the source's ties with radioactive disasters.

"When most people think nuclear, they think bomb," he said, "but how many weapons of mass destruction have been made from a commercial nuclear power plant? None. It's more of a socio-political issue."

Blackman, though, noted nuclear energy's significant efficiency as well as its environmental friendliness. In his facts, he also showed that 19 percent of the country uses nuclear energy sources.