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How much energy does desalinisation use? Is it "absurdly cheap"?
A deep-dive on desalinisation.
In reverse osmosis, pressure is applied to push water through a semi-permeable membrane, which removes the salt and impurities to leave freshwater on the other side. The figure below shows the “natural” process of osmosis where fresh and saltwater would want to mix to make the concentration of salts equal on both sides of the membrane. In the chart below I’ve compared total electricity demand per capita for all uses in many lower-income countries (and those on slightly higher incomes, such as India) to desalinisation of US levels of water consumption, and the WHO’s minimum guideline of 50 litres per person per day.
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