The Global Challenge for Water Supply: Is Seawater Desalination a Sustainable Solution?
Menachem Elimelech
Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University
ABSTRACT: Water scarcity is one of the greatest global crises that we currently face. In recent years, numerous large-scale seawater desalination plants have been built in water-scarce countries to augment available water resources, and construction of new desalination plants is expected to increase significantly in the near future. Despite the major advancements in reverse osmosis desalination technology, the production of freshwater by seawater desalination is still more energy-intensive than conventional technologies for the treatment of freshwater sources. Furthermore, there are concerns about the environmental impacts of desalination and uncertainty about the potential effects on the marine environment. Elimelech will review the energy efficiency, the state of the technology, and the environmental challenges of seawater desalination. He will discuss the possible reductions in energy demand by state-of-the art seawater desalination technologies; the potential role of advanced materials and innovative technologies in improving energy use, reliability, and environmental impact of seawater desalination; and the sustainability of desalination as a technological solution to global water shortages.
