Can Solar Desalination Slake the World's Thirst?
Solar desalination is starting to be used as an alternative to normal desalination centers in California. Less than one percent of desalination plants in the world use solar energy. The machine concentrates solar energy and uses it to evaporate the water. It evaporates water at 30 times the speed of normal evaporation and can produce up to 65,000 gallons of fresh water a day. Companies like WaterFX plan to treat 1.6 billion gallons of water in California next year. If California doesn't find another source of fresh water, 10% of farmland will be retired. A solar desalination plant is also being constructed in Saudi Arabia. Normal desalination plants burn about 1.5 million barrels of oil a year, which provide 50-70% of their freshwater supply. It is expected by 2030 that all of Saudi Arabia will need to rely on desalination plants.