This item about an Australian company's solar-powered desalination project provides a potential model. Acquasol Pty Ltd managing director Michael Fielden said this would be a world first in combining a large solar thermal power station and water desalination in a stand alone, near zero greenhouse gas emission facility. The Acquasol plant will be use "multi effect" desalination, driven by heat from a 1.75-kilometer square concentrating parabolic trough mirror field. The desalination plant, solar thermal storage and other operating equipment will be sited in a small area adjacent to the solar field.
The places in the Mideast with the greatest water needs often have the highest solar energy supply, not surprisingly. A solar-thermal desalination plant is part of the plan for the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi (http://media.cleantech.com/2339/abu-dhabi-the-next-cleantech-hub).
There is often talk about using nuclear power to desalinate seawater in the Middle East (http://www.arabenvironment.net/archive/2007/10/341216.html). Desalination may be necessary, but nuclear plants may not be.
This item about an Australian company's solar-powered desalination project provides a potential model. Acquasol Pty Ltd managing director Michael Fielden said this would be a world first in combining a large solar thermal power station and water desalination in a stand alone, near zero greenhouse gas emission facility. The Acquasol plant will be use "multi effect" desalination, driven by heat from a 1.75-kilometer square concentrating parabolic trough mirror field. The desalination plant, solar thermal storage and other operating equipment will be sited in a small area adjacent to the solar field.
The places in the Mideast with the greatest water needs often have the highest solar energy supply, not surprisingly. A solar-thermal desalination plant is part of the plan for the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi (http://media.cleantech.com/2339/abu-dhabi-the-next-cleantech-hub).
Posted by David at HaraBara http://www.harabara.com
Other links:
http://www.solardesalination.com.au/content/Desalination.html
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=EC134p4.pdf
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/16/2218632.htm
The image is courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories (http://www.energylan.sandia.gov/stdb.cfm).