3 ms·
I wonder if water export can become an industry in the same manner as petroleum or natural gas? With solar power getting so inexpensive I wonder if we could fil
by WheelsAtLarge 7y ago
I wonder if water export can become an industry in the same manner as petroleum or natural gas? With solar power getting so inexpensive I wonder if we could fill a very slow solar power tanker and ship it to the middle east at costs lower than desalinization? Thoughts anyone?
It might not be so crazy. At one-time shipping ice around the world was a thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_trade
- TheRealPomax 7y agoExcept the US really, really, really needs it. Just in different parts of the US.
- jessaustin 7y agoKeep your mitts off our water. You don't need water-intensive agriculture in the desert.
- rubber_duck 7y agohttps://www.businessinsider.com/engineering-firm-tow-icebergs-antarctica-for-water https://www.businessinsider.com/engineering-firm-tow-iceberg... So they are saying one iceberg could provide 100 million and 200 million m3 of water. According to wikipedia that's the global oil tanker transport load for a year and the largest tanker can load up 550k m3. It's also interesting what effect moving 200m m3 of ice to a desert climate would have on local climate. Even if their plan is unrealistic it sort of puts things in perspective in terms of quantities of water available.
- heymijo 7y agoGood question. Desalinization also has externalities that aren't priced in but would make sense to consider. That's a fancy way of saying that the salt removed from the water creates a brine that in large quantities is no bueno to just dump somewhere.