4 ms·

Wow, if we can grow more foods from sea water we could avert world hunger issues as fresh water becomes more scarce and requires more energy to extract.

nashashmi 8y ago
The reality is far more complex than that. Long term challenges exist. And short term thinkers will advertise this as a silver bullet.
- forkLding 8y ago
  The project took 40 years, if it takes another hundred, I think the Chinese will still continue on.
  - akvadrako 8y ago
    I don't know the details, but didn't it take the Chinese more than 40 years to learn how to grow rice in such quantities? It was really primitive genetic engineering.
maxerickson 8y ago
Reverse osmosis desalination just about works with current food and energy prices, with solar bringing energy prices down, freshwater might not be a big deal in the future: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/israel-proves-the-desalination-era-is-here/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/israel-proves-the...
- aphextron 8y ago
  Converting hydrocarbon power into fresh water seems like a really great idea if you can completely externalize the cost of pumping massive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Israeli reverse osmosis plants are almost entirely powered by oil and natural gas. Clean energy desalination may be the goal, but reality is far from there yet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Israel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Israel
  - discordance 8y ago
    I recognise that Israel burns oil/gas to clean water, but I do not understand why it's not possible to use solar/wind instead. Solar/wind is now comparable in price per kWh to the hydrocarbon cycle.
    - maxerickson 8y ago
      Over longer time periods it should be possible. Constructing gas power plants costs a lot less upfront (~½) and uses almost 0 land by comparison. The site time for the construction should also be quite a lot less. So if you want X amount of power available in a certain place next year, new gas generation is a lot more straightforward.
    - pfdietz 8y ago
      It should be quite possible. In addition, there's the idea of using pressurized underground aquifers as an energy store (basically, using bending and lifting of the overlying rocks to store the energy when pressurized water is pumped underground). The pressure can be transfered to a clean seawater stream by a device called a pressure exchanger, which can then be fed into a reverse osmosis plant.
collyw 8y ago
Even more people! Are we going to breed ourselves to the point we will live like caged chickens? Thats what the future looks like to me. Having said that, are hunger issues down to lack of production or the politics of food distribution?
curiousgal 8y ago
Sea weed already grows in Sea water, it's a logistics/marketing problem.
- lxmorj 8y ago
  Seaweed is calorically weak.
SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
You mean like fish?

nashashmi 8y ago

The reality is far more complex than that. Long term challenges exist. And short term thinkers will advertise this as a silver bullet.

forkLding 8y ago
The project took 40 years, if it takes another hundred, I think the Chinese will still continue on.
- akvadrako 8y ago
  I don't know the details, but didn't it take the Chinese more than 40 years to learn how to grow rice in such quantities? It was really primitive genetic engineering.

maxerickson 8y ago

Reverse osmosis desalination just about works with current food and energy prices, with solar bringing energy prices down, freshwater might not be a big deal in the future: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/israel-proves-the-desalination-era-is-here/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/israel-proves-the...

aphextron 8y ago
Converting hydrocarbon power into fresh water seems like a really great idea if you can completely externalize the cost of pumping massive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Israeli reverse osmosis plants are almost entirely powered by oil and natural gas. Clean energy desalination may be the goal, but reality is far from there yet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Israel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Israel
- discordance 8y ago
  I recognise that Israel burns oil/gas to clean water, but I do not understand why it's not possible to use solar/wind instead. Solar/wind is now comparable in price per kWh to the hydrocarbon cycle.
  - maxerickson 8y ago
    Over longer time periods it should be possible. Constructing gas power plants costs a lot less upfront (~½) and uses almost 0 land by comparison. The site time for the construction should also be quite a lot less. So if you want X amount of power available in a certain place next year, new gas generation is a lot more straightforward.
  - pfdietz 8y ago
    It should be quite possible. In addition, there's the idea of using pressurized underground aquifers as an energy store (basically, using bending and lifting of the overlying rocks to store the energy when pressurized water is pumped underground). The pressure can be transfered to a clean seawater stream by a device called a pressure exchanger, which can then be fed into a reverse osmosis plant.

collyw 8y ago

Even more people! Are we going to breed ourselves to the point we will live like caged chickens? Thats what the future looks like to me. Having said that, are hunger issues down to lack of production or the politics of food distribution?

curiousgal 8y ago

Sea weed already grows in Sea water, it's a logistics/marketing problem.

lxmorj 8y ago
Seaweed is calorically weak.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago

You mean like fish?