LockMart scores desalination breakthrough?
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 12:26PM
Fascinating to me, and to have a defense contractor to boot!
HT to Jim Henkenius.
Gist of short notice:
A defense contractor better known for building jet fighters and lethal missiles says it has found a way to slash the amount of energy needed to remove salt from seawater, potentially making it vastly cheaper to produce clean water at a time when scarcity has become a global security issue.
Why this matters so much: check out the NYT story on India's growing water woes.
That people in one of the rainiest places on the planet struggle to get potable water is emblematic of the profound water challenges that India faces. Every year, about 600,000 Indian children die because of diarrhea orpneumonia, often caused by toxic water and poor hygiene, according to Unicef.
Half of the water supply in rural areas, where 70 percent of India’s population lives, is routinely contaminated with toxic bacteria. Employment in manufacturing in India has declined in recent years, and a prime reason may be the difficulty companies face getting water.
And India’s water problems are likely to worsen. A report that McKinsey & Company helped to write predicted that India would need to double its water-generation capacity by the year 2030 to meet the demands of its surging population.
A separate analysis concluded that groundwater supplies in many of India’s cities — including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai — are declining at such a rapid rate that they may run dry within a few years.
The water situation in Gurgaon, the new mega-city south of Delhi, became so acute last year that a judge ordered a halt to new construction until projects could prove they were using recycled water instead of groundwater.
It's an old story: nobody really prioritizes the innovation until the national security tag gets slapped on - amidst a general defense budget slowdown. Then voila! Big player comes through.
Reader Comments (2)
Dr. Barnett:
Thanks for this post.
I would also like to point out CTC's Magnesium Powered Water Purification System (MPWPS), which is an alternative energy powered water purification system. CTC’s MPWPS provides the ability to meet objective military goals for dismounted, forward deployed soldiers by eliminating the need for water, fuel resupply, and extra equipment for the duration of a 10 day mission—for 40 soldiers. This system can significantly increase self-sufficiency, reduce supply demands, and reduce waste.
If interested, folks can view a Fact Sheet on the MPWPS here: https://ext.sharepoint.ctc.com/ctcComContent/StageMedia/Files/MPWPS_Fact_Sheet.pdf
Ross
Here is another technology with world changing potential:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/12/japan-tries-to-unlock-the-worlds-biggest-source-of-carbon-based-fuel/
If Japan were to get this technology from the experimental stage to the practical and economic stage as has been done with fracking over the last few years, Japan might well become energy independent.
If this technology is adopted all over the world it would largely spell the end of the oil age. There might be a bit of strategic, economic and political fallout from that development.