Desalination could avert one of the top 10 threats facing the world
Desalination could avert one of the top 10 threats facing the world Freethink
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Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- Goal 13: Climate Action
A Future Water Crisis
Billions of people turn on a tap and expect clean drinking water to flow out, but this is not the reality for billions of others.
Rapid population growth, urbanization, and increased global water consumption by agriculture, industry, and energy have left a growing number of countries facing the threat of water scarcity.
One solution to meet the growing demand for freshwater is desalination, which involves removing the salt from seawater to produce drinking water.
While this process alone can’t prevent a global water crisis, it can play a vital role in providing more people around the world with access to clean, safe drinking water.
Types of Desalination
There are a number of different methods of desalination, but most work either by a process of reverse osmosis or multistage flash to remove the salt from seawater.
Reverse osmosis is the more efficient of these two methods. The process uses a special membrane acting as a filter, which blocks and removes salt from seawater as it passes through. Here, powerful pumps generate enough pressure to ensure pure water is extracted.
Multistage flash desalination doesn’t use a filter. Instead, saltwater is exposed to steam heat and pressure variations, which causes a portion of the water to evaporate – or “flash” – into water vapor or freshwater, leaving behind salty brine as a by-product.
Both desalination processes create brine containing high salt levels, which can pose a threat to marine ecosystems when released back into natural bodies of water.
The output of both methods is clean drinking water. But, in addition to removing salt, the desalination process also removes organic or biological chemical compounds so the water produced doesn’t transmit diarrhea or other diseases.
Wave-Powered Innovation
While reverse osmosis plants are more efficient than multistage flash plants, large-scale desalination plants require a lot of energy and maintenance, and are expensive to build and operate.
Oneka, a wave-powered desalination technology, is one such innovation. Floating buoys tethered to the ocean floor use wave power to drive a pump that forces seawater through filters and reverse osmosis membranes. The fresh water is then piped ashore again powered solely by the natural motion of waves.
The system has several advantages over large-scale shore-based desalination plants that are mostly powered by combusting fossil fuels. Relying on emissions-free wave power rather than electricity demands less energy and generates fewer emissions than traditional desalination plants.
Solar – Low-Cost Water Purification
Solar power has been used to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water by researchers from King’s College in London in collaboration with MIT and the Helmholtz Institute of Renewable Energy Systems.
A set of specialized membranes channel salt ions into a stream of brine, leaving fresh drinkable water. The system adjusts to variable sunlight without compromising the volume of drinking water produced.
The process is 20% cheaper than traditional desalination methods, which could boost efforts to provide drinking water in developing countries.
Dutch start-up Desolenator is also using solar power for its low-cost water-as-a-service model for communities and businesses. The technology avoids the use of membranes or harmful chemicals, and each modular plant can produce up to 250,000 liters of freshwater daily.
Averting a Natural Resources Crisis
A natural resources crisis like water scarcity is listed as one of the top 10 threats facing the world in the next decade.
Currently, desalination plants are used in regions like the Middle East, but the energy-intensive nature and high costs of conventional desalination plants act as barriers to widespread take-up.
However, innovations that reduce the energy needed to operate desalination plants and reduce greenhouse emissions from their operations could change the situation and increase access to fresh drinking water for communities facing water challenges.
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
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SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
- Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity.
The article discusses the issue of water scarcity and the need for access to clean drinking water. It highlights the growing demand for freshwater and the potential future water crisis. These issues are directly related to SDG 6, which aims to ensure clean water and sanitation for all. The targets mentioned in the article are relevant to addressing these issues.
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SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- Target 7.2: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
The article mentions innovative desalination systems that aim to reduce energy consumption and emissions. This is connected to SDG 7, which focuses on affordable and clean energy. The target mentioned in the article is relevant to promoting renewable energy sources in desalination processes.
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SDG 13: Climate Action
- Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning.
The article discusses the need for innovations that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse emissions in desalination processes. This is connected to SDG 13, which focuses on climate action. The target mentioned in the article is relevant to promoting awareness and capacity building for climate change mitigation in the water sector.
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation | Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all. | The article mentions that 2.2 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water in 2022, indicating a lack of universal access to safe drinking water. |
| SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation | Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity. | The article highlights the growing demand for freshwater and the potential future water crisis, indicating the need for increased water-use efficiency and sustainable water supply. |
| SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy | Target 7.2: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. | The article discusses innovative desalination systems that aim to reduce energy consumption and emissions, indicating a shift towards renewable energy sources in desalination processes. |
| SDG 13: Climate Action | Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning. | The article emphasizes the need for innovations that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse emissions in desalination processes, indicating the importance of raising awareness and building capacity for climate change mitigation in the water sector. |
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Fuente: freethink.com
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