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What's wrong with desalination? Israel does it: http://www.haaretz.com/life/nature-environment/1.596270 http://www.haaretz.com/life/nature-environment/1.596270

What's wrong with desalination? Israel does it: http://www.haaretz.com/life/nature-environment/1.596270 http://www.haaretz.com/life/nature-environment/1.596270 And San Diego will too, soon: http://carlsbaddesal.com http://carlsbaddesal.com

Afforess 12y ago
Super-expensive and massive energy requirements. Its the least efficient way to produce water. Also produces brine-salt waste which is nasty to process or dispose of. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination#Considerations_and_criticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination#Considerations_and...
- scythe 12y ago
  Even these costs pale in comparison to the annihilation of the Colorado River watershed. Desalination would make California produce much more expensive; it might severely hurt the lettuce industry. But it would save the environment of Arizona and northern Baja. Also the energy required to desalinate all the water in a LA house is less than that to heat one in Detroit. Especially since the rise of solar energy (and tokamak fusion and geothermal) means that electricity is going to mostly get cheaper and cleaner in the foreseeable future.
  - paulbaumgart 12y ago
    Exactly! And as "natural" water becomes more scarce, prices will rise, incentivizing investment and innovation in desalination, making it more and more efficient over time.
    - Afforess 12y ago
      Desalination has a fixed energy cost that can't be "innovated" away. It requires at minimum, 1kwH/m^3, in a completely 100% energy efficient system (such a perfect system does not exist). That is the base energy required to boil the water away. Chemistry isn't like software, you can't innovate away the laws of physics.
      - paulbaumgart 12y ago
        I don't think our statements are incompatible (there's plenty of room for optimizing capex, even if opex has clear physical limits), but that reminds me of one of my favorite Simpsons quotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vxHkAQRQUQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vxHkAQRQUQ
debt 12y ago
Desalination has a very large negative impact on the natural ecosystems within the ocean[1]. http://www.pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2013/02/desalination_report3.pdf http://www.pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2013/02/d...

Afforess 12y ago

Super-expensive and massive energy requirements. Its the least efficient way to produce water. Also produces brine-salt waste which is nasty to process or dispose of. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination#Considerations_and_criticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination#Considerations_and...

scythe 12y ago
Even these costs pale in comparison to the annihilation of the Colorado River watershed. Desalination would make California produce much more expensive; it might severely hurt the lettuce industry. But it would save the environment of Arizona and northern Baja. Also the energy required to desalinate all the water in a LA house is less than that to heat one in Detroit. Especially since the rise of solar energy (and tokamak fusion and geothermal) means that electricity is going to mostly get cheaper and cleaner in the foreseeable future.
- paulbaumgart 12y ago
  Exactly! And as "natural" water becomes more scarce, prices will rise, incentivizing investment and innovation in desalination, making it more and more efficient over time.
  - Afforess 12y ago
    Desalination has a fixed energy cost that can't be "innovated" away. It requires at minimum, 1kwH/m^3, in a completely 100% energy efficient system (such a perfect system does not exist). That is the base energy required to boil the water away. Chemistry isn't like software, you can't innovate away the laws of physics.
    - paulbaumgart 12y ago
      I don't think our statements are incompatible (there's plenty of room for optimizing capex, even if opex has clear physical limits), but that reminds me of one of my favorite Simpsons quotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vxHkAQRQUQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vxHkAQRQUQ

debt 12y ago

Desalination has a very large negative impact on the natural ecosystems within the ocean[1]. http://www.pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2013/02/desalination_report3.pdf http://www.pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2013/02/d...