Abstract
Water is the world’s most precious, yet undervalued, resource. According to a recent WWF report, the annual economic value of water and freshwater ecosystems is estimated to be US$58 trillion, which is equivalent to 60% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The report highlights that extracting unsustainable amounts of water, applying harmful subsidies, causing alterations to river flows pollution and climate change-related impacts are endangering freshwater ecosystems. It calls for governments, businesses and financial institutions to urgently increase investment in sustainable water infrastructure.
The societal challenge of water scarcity results in economic sectors competing for water supplies. This has the potential to disrupt both the energy sector and food production. The interdependencies between water and energy are well known and they have become a topic of increasing
attention for the scientific and policy communities. Water is used throughout the energy industry and the water systems need energy for collecting, pumping, treating and desalinising water. Recent reports on the Water-Energy Nexus [2] highlight that despite the water sector not being as
energy-intensive as other industries, introducing changes to the water supply system offers the potential to increase the flexibility of the European power system and vice versa - renewable energy can be used to power water treatment and desalination plants while the water supply and distribution network can be used to store energy.
The opportunity for desalination plants is being driven by the growing levels of water scarcity experienced throughout the world. In many countries the water infrastructure is underdeveloped and cannot service increasing demand from the population. In many other countries, traditional water sources that have serviced the needs of the population are becoming over-stretched. According to Water Aid, there are 703 million people across the world who do not have access to clean water [1]. The impact of climate change and conflicts around the world are exacerbating this situation and adding to the number of people living in situations where they do not have safe access to water. More frequent and extreme flooding is polluting freshwater sources whilst longer droughts are drying up springs. It is estimated that 90% of all natural disasters are water-related, either causing situations where there is too much or too little water.
As a result, the development of new and existing water sources and supplies is a key objective for the United Nations and its funding. In 2015, the United Nations agreed a ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ as a universal call to action; setting 2030 targets to try to address poverty and climate change. The 2030 Agenda is based around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which (‘SDG 6’) relates to ensuring that everyone has access to a sustainable source of water and sanitation.
There is a growing urgency to find new solutions to enable the global population to have adequate water, for domestic and industrial requirements, through new sources of water and new technologies. The sea is the largest potential source of water and is still largely unexploited. Desalination therefore offers the greatest potential towards achieving the UN’s goals in relation to SDG6 and the ‘2030 agenda’.