Can Desalination and Clean Energy Combined Help to Alleviate Global Water Scarcity?

The major present hindrance in using desalination to help alleviate global water scarcity is the cost of this technology, which, in turn is due to energy cost involved. This study examines historical trends in desalination and breaks up the cost of desalination into energy based and nonenergy based....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Water Resources Association 2014-10, Vol.50 (5), p.1111-1123
Main Authors: Sood, Aditya, Smakhtin, Vladimir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative energy
Desalination
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Hydrology
Hydrology. Hydrogeology
learning curve
photovoltaic
Photovoltaic cells
renewable energy
Scarcity
water demand
Water resources
Water supply
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Summary:The major present hindrance in using desalination to help alleviate global water scarcity is the cost of this technology, which, in turn is due to energy cost involved. This study examines historical trends in desalination and breaks up the cost of desalination into energy based and nonenergy based. It then develops the learning curves (relationship between cumulative production and market price) for desalination. Assuming that the photovoltaic (PV) technology will be the dominant form of energy used in the desalination process, the existing PV learning curve and desalination learning curve are combined to explore the viability of large‐scale adoption of desalination in the future. The world has been divided into seven regions and it is assumed that water demand from desalinated water will be met only within the 100‐km coastal belt. It is shown that, in most of the regions, other than sub‐Saharan Africa, Central America, and South Asia (where water tariffs are low), the desalination (without considering energy) becomes viable by 2040. For PV technology, less than 1 million MW per annum growth is required till 2050 to make it affordable. Globally, desalination with renewable energy can become a viable option to replace domestic and industrial water demand in the 100‐km coastal belt by 2050.
ISSN:1093-474X
1752-1688
DOI:10.1111/jawr.12174