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So what would it cost to tow it somewhere with a need for fresh water?
by voidmain 9y ago
So what would it cost to tow it somewhere with a need for fresh water?
- kbutler 9y agoToo much, even for smaller icebergs. Desalination is a cheaper option. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/05/could-towing-icebergs-to-hot-places-solve-the-worlds-water-shortage https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/05/could-to...
- dukoid 9y agoBTW: Was it ever considered to offer desalinated water in California at a higher rate, so people who wish to do so can waste it on their lawn or proper showers without the shaming?
- BinaryIdiot 9y agoWhile desalinated is technically doable, is it scalable yet so that it could even be offered? I honestly don't know much about it but was under the impression it simply wouldn't work to provide California water because it's not yet able to scale enough to meet a large enough fraction of the need. I could certainly be wrong though. I couldn't find much info googling.
- idlewords 9y agoMost of California's appetite for water is due to agriculture. For that, you need cheap inland water. The Gulf countries offer desalinated water at city scale, but it's not cheap enough for irrigation.
- BinaryIdiot 9y agoThat makes sense. Thanks!
- voidmain 9y ago> even for smaller icebergs Naively, the energy cost of towing should go as the 2/3 power of the mass of the iceberg, whereas the energy cost of desalination is linear. So bigger is better! Of course, it's a million times bigger than the biggest iceberg ever towed, so I guess there is some technical risk. But where's your can-do attitude?
- elif 9y agoLuckily, there is a need for fresh water on the surface around Antarctica :) to be used in freezing new ice.