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I don’t know why we don’t have desalination plants everywhere among coastal cities. Yeah — it costs a lot but it will be worth the money. Water conservation and lower usage can only go so far.
People don't understand that about 90% of water is used for agriculture and manufacturing. If the farmers had to use desalinated water to grow their crops, produce would cost more then any one could afford. If manufacturers had to use desalinated water then they would have to go out of business or move to a location where they could use cheap water. Desalinated water is fine for drinking and washing clothes but most would not be able to even water their lawns.
I love your posts, especially on environmental issues of any kind. Could you please explain to me two things, in the desalination scenario:
1. It will increase demand for petrol. Desal uses huge amounts of petrol, I've heard. I don't think the world is ready for an intensification of petrol exploitation, do you? Where are additional sources, sufficient to desal all that ocean water, going to come from? I mean, without more fracking that causes earthquakes under people's homes and communities, and without more Tar Sands projects, and whatever other desperate measures oil companies and governments will take.
2. What happens to all the extra sal? it can destroy soil and crops, if it blows around out of control, and it would change the chemistry of the oceans, if it were dumped back in the ocean massively.
The energy will come from nuclear fusion technology. Within 100 years we will have nearly limitless cheap energy. After which desalinization costs will be trivial. And after which, the Earth will easily support populations exceeding 100 billion.
Old saying: Water will Always arise to $$$. Then, it's a matter of how much of a water bill do you want every month.
In the 1970's the Texas Water Plan was put to a vote, and it was narrowly defeated. And it was the West Texas ranchers who wanted it above all, as the Oglalla Aquifier is running dry. The Plan: pipe water from the Mississippi river to west Texas @3500 feet in altitude. Yes, push the water upwards! To accomplish that, as reported, it would have taken 2 nuclear power plants to continually push it upstream. Those in Houston, of course, voted it down as they have too much water.
And, to push it further upstream to, say, Gallup, NM, at 6500 feet, and to dump it into the Colorado River? We're talking some very expensive water.
Perhaps, with Canada, some deal could be reached. Share your water, and we'll give you some of the Aleutian Islands. Or how about a Hawaiian island?
Now you're talking! Just make sure you offer one, that won't be mostly underwater in 50 years.
The energy will come from nuclear fusion technology. Within 100 years we will have nearly limitless cheap energy. After which desalinization costs will be trivial. And after which, the Earth will easily support populations exceeding 100 billion.
First, we have to LAST 100 years! I'm not banking on that possibility! We'd need to survive 100 years in such a condition that would allow us to build said technology.
I still need to know what would be done with all the extra sal produced from worldwide de-sal efforts, and desal on our coasts. Massive, toxic levels of sal, people!
You know, it's funny how, when new sources of energy are discovered, or new industries come online, everyone forgets the little problem of what to do with the unwanted byproducts, i.e.--the waste. Dumping tons of salt in the oceans, as humanity has done with much of its other waste products, will not work.
People don't understand that about 90% of water is used for agriculture and manufacturing. If the farmers had to use desalinated water to grow their crops, produce would cost more then any one could afford. If manufacturers had to use desalinated water then they would have to go out of business or move to a location where they could use cheap water. Desalinated water is fine for drinking and washing clothes but most would not be able to even water their lawns.
Lawns have become a rarity in some parts of the US. In Santa Fe, NM, the only people who have lawns are the wealthy, and they hide them behind high walls. Much to my surprise, Colorado (and some neighborhoods in Albuquerque, NM) are maintaining the illusion of water plenty with lawns everywhere, even as the state imposes water restrictions and high fees for water use. Water catchment on private land is unlawful in CO. Farmers say it deprives them of needed surface water and groundwater. California hasn't even begun to grapple with this issue. Policy-wise, it's still pretending that the mega-drought was a fluke.
The countries along the lower Mekong River in SE Asia are seeing reduced flow due to over 10 dams on the upper Mekong in southern China. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are very dependent on the Mekong for agriculture, fishing and riverboat transport, so low river flows will hurt them a lot. If this gets worse over a long period of time, I am sure it could lead to a lot more tension, but probably not war against the power of China.
The amount of water in the world is nearly constant (slightly increasing because of thermal venting). It is just poorly distributed at times depending on your frame of reference.
There will be no water wars because there will be desalinization.
The technology is already being developed.
I don't understand why people think the solution is this simple. Just wave the desal wand, and all is solved, we can rest assured.
For people who read the thread title and maybe the OP, then post a quick response, I'd like to point out, that the thread is discussing, in part, where the fuel would come from to power all the desal (Saudi Arabia, which supplie 60% of its water by desal, doesn't have to worry--yet--because they still have plenty of oil), and what to do with all the excess salt the process produces.
Quote:
There are environmental costs to desalination as well: in the emissions of greenhouse gases from the large amount of energy used, and in the disposal of the brine, which in addition to being extremely salty is laced with toxic treatment chemicals.
I don’t know why we don’t have desalination plants everywhere among coastal cities. Yeah — it costs a lot but it will be worth the money. Water conservation and lower usage can only go so far.
In Califor-Nimby-a, where or where would you even construct a De-Sal plant in Southern CA without the Nimby's screaming and yelling? 25 miles of coastline in Malibu. Malibu, a De-Sal Plant off the coast? Or Santa Monica or Redondo Beach or Newport Beach or Laguna Beach? Best bet would be off the coast of Camp Pendelton, Federal land.
I made a trip to Phoenix recently, with my brother, and I wanted to show him my old Historic District neighborhood around Encanto Park. To my astonishment, there's green lawns every where radiating out from the Park, no different from when I moved out of there in 1996.
I had a neighbor in Las Vegas who had moved from Southern CA and? "I had a green lawn in the L.A. area and I'm going to have a green lawn in Las Vegas, no matter how much it costs!"
You might want to call some of these die-hards Warriors!
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I'm not banking on that possibility! We'd need to survive 100 years in such a condition that would allow us to build said technology.
Or Santa Monica or Redondo Beach or Newport Beach or Laguna Beach? Best bet would be off the coast of Camp Pendelton, Federal land.
