Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency has developed a new solar energy desalination system that unlike conventional ones is less costly and much more environmentally-friendly.
According to the English version of Dubai News, UAE’s new solar energy desalination process “helps reduce cost of water treatment, especially in desert areas where dust and high temperatures impair the efficiency of solar panels used in the existing desalination system.”
Due to the the lack of water, desalination is currently the main provider of fresh water in the UAE. So far, the process was pretty expensive, and this is the reason why Abu Dhabi and other UAE members are seriously looking for other methods such as water recycling and treatment to provide their fresh water needs.
If this new zero-carbon process will be more efficient, then Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region will use solar power to generate energy for its desalination plants.
According to a press release, the two experimental solar-powered desalination facilities in Sweihan and Hameem are pilot sites to show how to decrease the cost of water production and the negative impact of water desalination on the environment. Each plant is capable of producing about 35 kilowatts per hour, having a total of 1050 kilowatt/hour.
This new “carbon zero” process could have an adverse affect on marine life because there is still the issue of the heavily saline sea water residue being returned to the sea, making it even more saline with each fresh water drop squeezed out.
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I think it is a step to the rigth direction. What I cannot understand is that sun-poor countries like Germany are investing a lot of money into solar energy, whereas sun-rich countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman etc. are still relying on their diminishing oil reserves. They have all the money and unused land to invest in the future energy. Who knows perhaps todays OPEC will be tomorrows OEEC.