In a process known as desalination (or desalinization), salt and other minerals are removed from seawater to produce fresh water suitable for human consumption. As world population rises the demand for fresh water rises even more rapidly since fresh water is used for more than direct human consumption. It is used in agriculture for both crop and livestock production as well as in industrial and mining operations. In particular, a growing quantity of water is being used around the world to extract oil, in both conventional oil well operations and, more notably yet, in hydraulic fracking operations used to extract oil and natural gas from sand tars and shale deposits.
The demand for desalinated water is rising at an estimated rate of 9% per year and is expected to continue to grow at this high rate for some time to come. Desalination plants around the world today produce approximately 65.2 million cubic meters of fresh water per day (24 billion m3 per year), which is equivalent to 0.6% of global water supply.
Today’s market size is an estimate of the money that will be invested to build new desalination plants worldwide between 2010 and 2016. Parts of the Middle East and North Africa are particularly invested in desalination technology, being regions particularly vulnerable to water shortages. In Saudi Arabia, for example, 70% of the total volume of drinking water consumed is supplied through the use of desalination technologies. The Middle East and North Africa are expected to see the largest share of the investments in desalination plants during the period shown here.
Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010–2016
Market size: $88 billion
Source: Water Desalination Using Renewable Energy, Technology Brief 115, March 2012, pages 3-4, available online here. “Saudi Per Capita Water Consumption 91% Higher Than International Average,” Saudi Gazette, September 1, 2012, available here.
Original source: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA)
Posted on February 5, 2013