The evolution of technology is speeding up.
Tomorrow is here sooner.
By John Zulaikha
Tuesday October 11-31, 2005

It's September 2007 : updating "The Search for Sydney Water"

November 2005 quote:

"One day it might be able to roam the seas searching for the best possible weather conditions gathering the full potential, but typically it would be moored off the coast exchanging eco energy for fresh water, re-charging, and pumping fresh water back to the coast through a pipe."
 
"...make it a billion dollar floating desalination plant - so it is easily moved."

The extraordinaire is happening!!

The Desal Watercraft Carrier idea is pretty simple really.
Equip a boat with a desalination plant on board - anchor it somewhere out of sight like in the middle of the ocean - populate with solar collectors, wind generators and wave generators - put them to work desalinating seawater into drinkable water - pump the water back to shore through a pipe - and mix with a computer controlled unmanned environment: sounds quite logical and ecological, sustainable and renewable - pretty much guaranteed green-environmentalist-proof - and NIMBY... and all without any CO2 emissions.

The fuel [solar, wind, wave tide and energy differential] is free. The working material [sea water] is free, the energy to drive the engine [pump] is free, and the product [water] is clean, and the process [desalination] is pollution free, and the waste [salt] goes back into the sea, which is about as good as it gets for seawater desalination.

All that remained is someone to work out the energy and cost related figures... enter SEADOV.

Seadov puts it all together.
Seadov announces March 27, 2007 "Eco-friendly desalination plant set to solve water woes."

In short: the idea of putting a large scale desalination plant on board a ship or vessel powered by renewables may turn out to be practical. So practical, that Australian company Seadov Pty Ltd "Sustainable Energy And Desalination On Vessel" is negotiating to deploy a real one, using solar, wind, wave and ocean currents capable of delivering potable water, large scale.

The placement of a large scale desalination plant in the middle of the ocean has distinct advantages over land based desalination - only at sea can we gather a plurality of renewable energy sources - like solar, wind, tide, current, OTEC [ocean thermal energy conversion] - and LTTD [low-temperature thermal desalination] - and this changes the playing field completely.

It's interesting to note, that none of the technology chosen to be deployed with Seadov is new or experimental, everything is tried and proven. What is new is the positioning. Some of us have heard the phrase "position position position" when refering to a successful formula for business - you wouldn't mill wheat in the middle of the ocean or open a bakery and sell bread - so why would you mill [desalinate] sea water on land? One very clear advantage is the waste sea water or brine is easily disposed at sea which is far more environmentally responsible and safe.

November 2005 Desal Watercraft Carrier Put it on a floating barge or grab a decommissioned aircraft carrier. Sometimes the obvious is just too difficult to see until someone shows you, and then you wonder why it was a problem in the first place. Instead of limiting ourselves with a billion dollar fixture that's difficult to move - make it a billion dollar floating desalination plant - so it is easily moved. Float it on seawater, suck it up, desal, and pump it home... and when Sydney doesn't need it anymore because the dam is full, float it to Brisbane. • Saves on land costs. • Augment with a few solar cells. • Some wind generators. • Harness ocean energy waves and tide to reduce energy costs and produce less greenhouse gases. • and it's not in my backyard. Desal Watercraft Carrier

27 March 2007 MEDIA RELEASE SEADOV Sustainable Energy And Desalination On Vessel Renewable Energy Desalination - Solar, Wind, Wave and Tidal Current. Eco-friendly desalination plant set to solve water woes. click here for story

Friday 29 October 2005 Energetech Australia produces electricity and drinking water. A world first off Port Kembla yesterday by generating alternative energy and fresh water from the sea. Over the moon or on a crest of a wave the boys at Energetech and H2AU have made electricity which made fresh water with the energy of waves! click here for story

Premier Morris Iemma, Minister Frank Sartor, Senator Ian Campbell.
The commitment to time and expenditure burdens the availability of sustainability.

The very informative Ensuring the Future website provided by Sydney Water communicates desalination as the best option to safeguard Sydney's water supply. As a rapid solution to drought it's impressive - it's not the ideal - but there is a deadline. Based upon the reality of today - reliable tested technology - I have yet to find an electric eco alternative, although there are many "almosts" the closest to completion is Energetech.
*Thusday 12th November Warragamba is 40%.

Energetech has all the right pieces to make Renewable Desalination a reality and they're in Randwick Australia and testing at Port Kembla near Sydney. Energetech 612 9326 4237.

My 2 cents is biased towards new inventions, sustainability and ideals, so I can afford to stretch my imagination although every now and then I pay the price and face the wall. Even Premier Bob Carr was green until his last days in office when his imagination was finally faced with the inevitable technological brick wall that dictates, "make a decision based on what works today".

To allow everyone to move on, the Premier made the decision.
That was then and this is now.
The evolution of technology is speeding up.
Tomorrow is here sooner.

smarter thinking
Until we crack the technology to make a mini-sun, we'll have to make do with smarter thinking. The energy game is being challanged, the old machines are being replaced by younger ones who are cleaner but not as efficient. But together they can form a synergy. When all parts are working together the sum is greater than the parts.

UPDATE: Wednesday October 12, 2005 WELL BEYOND TOMORROW CAME SOONER THAN I THOUGHT! http://www.beyondtomorrow.com.au/stories/ep20/desal.html PX PRESSURE EXCHANGER A centrifugal pump has slashed energy costs of turning sea water into fresh water. Instead of using energy to process 3 parts seawater to make one part fresh water, you process one part seawater and make one part fresh water. A better use of energy. Affordable Desalination Collaboration (ADC) PX-220 Pressure Exchanger: A positive displacement pump for seawater reverse osmosis applications. The PX recovers pressure from the brine waste stream at up to 97% efficiency reducing operating costs by as much as 60%. Instead of 3 for 1, you get 1 for 1, for the same energy input. ENERGY RECOVERY INC. (ERI) With the help of the PX Pressure Exchanger, ERI clients are producing over 73 million gallons of fresh water a day and saving over $35 million a year in operating costs. Energy Recovery has nearly 1,000 units in hundreds of installations worldwide. The PX boasts over three million unit-hours of proven reliability. In some cases ERI has reduced the power consumption of existing plants by as much as 300% and in other cases it has made it possible for existing  plants to triple their capacity. ERI was the first company in the world to demonstrate an SWRO plant producing fresh water for only 2.0 kWh/m3 (7.5 kWh/1,000 gal) - an achievement formerly thought impossible. ERI's  equipment is installed on the largest SWRO plant in China, and in Cyprus, the PX-equipped 30,000 m3/day PX installation is the largest application of positive displacement energy recovery technology in the world.

48 hours later, I bumped into Minister Frank Sartor at the local newsagent last night, yada yada "Did you see Beyond Tomorrow last Wednesday Frank?" - apparently not - so I spilled the news 3/1 to 1/1 etc. and Perth was getting one. Minister Frank Sartor said "If it's commercialized it will be in Sydney" which is about as straight forward as you get.

It may appear over-kill, a 2 billion dollar desalination plant but Sydney Water has some built in choices along the progressional way like scaleability, starting at 100 million litres to 500 million litres of fresh water per day if required. But it's not just a desalination plant. It's pipes, which are a means of transport for the water produced to travel along, sometimes underwater across the bay, which does sound expensive. Using the power from the grid (instead of constructing its' own gas-fired power supply) means as the grid becomes green, so too does the desalination plant. If the grid eventually becomes green there is no long range problem. The negatives abound: it's still bottled electricity, expensive without an escape clause and unsustainable... and becomes yet another expensive Toll for NSW.

The over-shadowing problem is if and when it rains, what do we do with it then? Conversely, if it doesn't rain we supposedly cannot live without it. The decision to build scaleable desalination is correct.

If I could suggest one thing, it would be to build a scaleable portable desalination system. That would solve the "what do we do with it after it rains scenario". We would then be able to ship it to Brisbane or wherever desalination is required and get our money's worth instead of switching it off. There is another instance, for a permanent desalination fixture ie. non-movable. It's okay if it can do another useful job. One that reverts to electricity production when the drought is over. It may cost more now but be appreciated after it rains, or if it rains.

Recycling wastewater is the preferred option by the opposition but this may either involve the installation of dual water pipes (one for drinking and one for recycled wastewater) which would cost billions for the 21,000 kilometers of extra pipe. Mixing the wastewater back into the Warragamba Dam would require a lot of pumping, treatment, further investigations health and public studies - which leaves recycling on a residential scale for new housing - but hey, I'm sure there are better ideas.

Water-saving success at the grass roots By Wendy Frew, Environment Reporter Sydney Morning Herald July 4, 2005 smh.com.au/news/national/watersaving-success-at-the-grass-roots/

Recycling is all well and good, but it doesn't make more water... and that's the basic point of a drought, not enough water. The state of Climate Change may deem that this lack of rainfall becomes the norm, hence we'll need a desalination plant anyway.

Of course when the drought is over, if it ever is, we'll have an expensive item on hire purchase that's no fun anymore.That could be in 5 years. That's pretty extravagant considering the newer technologies arriving on the market. It's like buying a Rolls Royce for $2 million when the electric car I saw on Beyond Tomorrow looks great and doesn't emit greenhouse gas and will cost $80,000, but I'll have to wait till next year... or maybe the year after that... or the next. A major stumbling block is a tight schedule.

A tight schedule presumably determined by dam levels. Since Warragamba is currently pretty high around 40% there is no need for panic. More time and thought towards a sustainable solution can be found to best deal with Sydney Waters' future.

Federal threat to water plant By Wendy Frew Environment Reporter Sydney Morning Herald October 8, 2005 smh.com.au/news/national/federal-threat-to-water-plant

Sydney Water is faced with a deadline, a "window of opportunity", to deliver security to Sydney and without ambiguity, and Sydney deserves this clarity... and they need absolute certainty, so what else can they do?

There's ambiguous room for error - nobody knows when it will rain, although according to news report we have had enough rain but it's just going down the drain.

There's plenty of rain, but it's just going down the drain By Wendy Frew Environment Reporter Sydney Morning Herald October 11, 2005 smh.com.au/news/national/theres-plenty-of-rain-but-its-just-going-down-the-drain/

August-September 2005 Mr MORRIS IEMMA: The worst drought in a century is now in its fourth year. Our water supplies are at unsustainably low levels. That is why on 19 August the Government gave the green light to desalination. And two weeks ago the Government declared the desalination plant as critical infrastructure under our new planning laws so that it does not get caught in regulatory red tape. This is no longer a backup plan. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20050920007

Experts fear marine disaster in desalination By Wendy Frew Environment Reporter Sydney Morning Herald June 27, 2005 With concentrated saltwater discharge and environmental impacts associated with coastal desalination alarm experts. smh.com.au/news/national/experts-fear-marine-disaster-in-desalination

To Energetech's favour, since they are situated out at sea, the excess wastewater or brine is released back into the ocean minimizing environmental impacts.

Plant threatens to double Sydney water bills By Wendy Frew Environment Reporter Sydney Morning Herald July 20, 2005

Energetech WEB is scaleable and portable with a cost that I estimate around $850 million for equivalent 500 million litres per day as per Sydney Waters requirements.

*Please Note:
There is no on-going fuel cost at all.
There is no greenhouse gas emission.

We are standing on the cusp of a revolution in technology
on the edge of Climate Change

20th Century greenhouse gas emitters
Vs
21st Century clean green sustainable ecology friendly technology.

And every moment and every detail counts.

What a dilemma!

It's a turning point for Sydney.

SUSTAINABLE OR NOT SO SUSTAINABLE SYDNEY

Some think this "window of opportunity" is crucial for the sustainability of Sydney since it hits at the core of Sydney's sustainable future. Get this right and we are on our way up! Get it wrong and we go down the wrong path.

Which leaves the burning question, "what do you do with a 2 billion desalination plant after it rains?". California and Texas had similar water shortages and had to dismantle them after it rained... if it's portable you unhook it and float it to your next destination. That's sustainability.

There are now newer technologies that command our attention on the horizon, but as yet they are still to emerge in the market. The irony is, they will quite probably be marketable within the same "window of opportunity" as required by Sydney Water's deadline of two years, so it is neck and neck.

The obvious but not so simple bleeding-edge solution is off-shore Oscillating or Assisted Water Columns (OWC), buoys and pontoons, the Hosepump, the Sea Dog, flaps and tapered channels, the Pendulor and TAPCHAN. all utilize the waves motion to make electricity... like Energetech.

In Australia  we have Energetech currently testing electricity and desalination powered directly from the ocean off Port Kembla.

There is the other instance for a permanent desalination fixture at Kurnell ie. non-movable. It's okay if it can do another useful job after it rains. One that converts to electricity production.

A hybrid desalination plant with overnight energy storage could save running costs by using off-peak prices 24 hours a day.
It may cost extra to start with,
but will be of value after it rains,
or is the question... if it rains.