Will desalination powered by renewables use osmosis?
Mr. Nelder mentioned that currently desalination is done via cogeneration from natural gas electric plants. What's the desalination process? Do they evaporate the water using waste heat or do they use the power for osmosis or both? When they switch to renewables, is the plan to use osmosis instead of evaporation?
One nice thing about using renewables to power osmosis is that nightfall would be less of a problem with solar. Osmosis can be turned on and off quickly with little loss, and of course extra fresh water produced during the day can be stored for use during the night. This means the usual problem with renewables and electric storage goes away. On the downside, the cost of keeping desalination plants idle during the night might be too expensive. What are the prospects for wind power in Abu Dhabi?
