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Didn't we have the super-cheap solar powered desalinization guy on HN about two months ago? Each year, MIT announces they solved solar desalination: - 2021 [1
by Animats 2y ago
Didn't we have the super-cheap solar powered desalinization guy on HN about two months ago?
Each year, MIT announces they solved solar desalination:
- 2021 [1]
- 2022 [2]
- 2023 [3]
- 2024 [4]
[1] https://news.mit.edu/2020/passive-solar-powered-water-desalination-0207 https://news.mit.edu/2020/passive-solar-powered-water-desali...
[2] https://news.mit.edu/2022/solar-desalination-system-inexpensive-0214 https://news.mit.edu/2022/solar-desalination-system-inexpens...
[3] https://news.mit.edu/2023/desalination-system-could-produce-freshwater-cheaper-0927 https://news.mit.edu/2023/desalination-system-could-produce-...
[4] https://news.mit.edu/2024/solar-powered-desalination-system-requires-no-extra-batteries-1008 https://news.mit.edu/2024/solar-powered-desalination-system-...
- Spivak 2y agoAre you not seeing the progress in the articles? It went from a lab proof-of-concept to a working prototype producing in real life 5000 liters/day passively. That's impressive as hell.
- Animats 2y ago2021-2023 is one approach, and 2024 is something else entirely. The 2024 thing is brackish groundwater cleanup.
- _fs 2y agoColorado river averages 500,000 liters a second, and we use every drop of it. Scaling up from 0.055 liters per second is going to be expensive
- Animats 2y agoRight. Remember, the issue is not whether it can be done, but how cheaply. Desalinization works fine now, but it's kind of expensive. These claimed breakthroughs are cost reductions. For that, you have to scale up to at least small production and measure costs. Only then you can boast.