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>Replacing California's agricultural water supply with desal plants would cost something on the order of $2,000 per acre-foot at current-day energy prices. It'

by krasin 11y ago

>Replacing California's agricultural water supply with desal plants would cost something on the order of $2,000 per acre-foot at current-day energy prices. It's actually 3 times cheaper. Price of desalinated water from Soreq plant (the newest / largest one in Israel) is about NIS 2.20 = USD 0.57 for a cubic meter. One acre-foot is 1233 cubic meters. $0.57 * 1233 = $702. See [1] As for capital investments, I would like to see how did you come up with the numbers. 20% of Israel needs for water are covered by a single plant that costed $500 mln, according to [2]. Update. According to [3], California uses 49 billions of cubic meters of water every year. Soreq plant produces 150 mln m3/year and costs $500 mln to build. So, naively, to desalinate 100% of California water needs, the required investments are $164 bln. To cover just the deficit, about 20% of that is required, which is about $33 bln. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Israel#Seawater_desalination_.282000s.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in... 2. http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/534996/megascale-desalination/ http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/534996/megasca... 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_in_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_in_California

mapt 11y ago
* Construction costs are modest relative to energy costs. * https://www.c-win.org/news/desalination-dramatically-increase-cost-water.html https://www.c-win.org/news/desalination-dramatically-increas... and other sources say $2000-$3000 per acre-foot. How heavily is Soreq subsidized? * 49 billion cubic meters is 40M acre-feet
- krasin 11y ago
  I think $2000-$3000 price is the price Carlsbad pays for its desalinated water ([1]): " January 17, 2008, article in the Wall Street Journal stated, "In November, Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources Corp. won a key regulatory approval to build the $300 million water-desalination plant in Carlsbad, north of San Diego. The facility would produce 50,000,000 US gallons (190,000,000 l; 42,000,000 imp gal) of drinking water per day, enough to supply about 100,000 homes ... Improved technology has cut the cost of desalination in half in the past decade, making it more competitive ... Poseidon plans to sell the water for about $950 per acre-foot [1,200 cubic meters (42,000 cu ft)]. That compares with an average [of] $700 an acre-foot [1200 m³] that local agencies now pay for water."In June 2012, new estimates were released that showed the cost for the desalinated water had risen to $2,329 per acre-foot. Each $1,000 per acre-foot works out to $3.06 for 1,000 gallons, or $.81 per cubic meter." This particularly bad implementation does not mean it could not be made better. In the same source [1], "In 2014, the Israeli cities of Hadera, Palmahim, Ashkelon, and Sorek were desalinizing water for less than US$0.40 per cubic meter.[28] As of 2006, Singapore was desalinating water for US$0.49 per cubic meter." As for subsidizing the water plants, the question is unclear, but I've got an impression that it's not the case, the Soreq technology seems to be really more efficient. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Desalination#Economics https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Desalination#Economics

by krasin 11y ago

mapt 11y ago

* Construction costs are modest relative to energy costs. * https://www.c-win.org/news/desalination-dramatically-increase-cost-water.html https://www.c-win.org/news/desalination-dramatically-increas... and other sources say $2000-$3000 per acre-foot. How heavily is Soreq subsidized? * 49 billion cubic meters is 40M acre-feet

krasin 11y ago
I think $2000-$3000 price is the price Carlsbad pays for its desalinated water ([1]): " January 17, 2008, article in the Wall Street Journal stated, "In November, Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources Corp. won a key regulatory approval to build the $300 million water-desalination plant in Carlsbad, north of San Diego. The facility would produce 50,000,000 US gallons (190,000,000 l; 42,000,000 imp gal) of drinking water per day, enough to supply about 100,000 homes ... Improved technology has cut the cost of desalination in half in the past decade, making it more competitive ... Poseidon plans to sell the water for about $950 per acre-foot [1,200 cubic meters (42,000 cu ft)]. That compares with an average [of] $700 an acre-foot [1200 m³] that local agencies now pay for water."In June 2012, new estimates were released that showed the cost for the desalinated water had risen to $2,329 per acre-foot. Each $1,000 per acre-foot works out to $3.06 for 1,000 gallons, or $.81 per cubic meter." This particularly bad implementation does not mean it could not be made better. In the same source [1], "In 2014, the Israeli cities of Hadera, Palmahim, Ashkelon, and Sorek were desalinizing water for less than US$0.40 per cubic meter.[28] As of 2006, Singapore was desalinating water for US$0.49 per cubic meter." As for subsidizing the water plants, the question is unclear, but I've got an impression that it's not the case, the Soreq technology seems to be really more efficient. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Desalination#Economics https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Desalination#Economics