There seems to be a fair degree of consensus around projections that suggest a rapidly increasing demand for water resources.   For exampe Lux Research predicts that by 2030 there will be a 40% increase in demand for water.   At the same time it is also clear that with climate change the supply of water on the earth is reducing, especially in many developing countries.   Current technologies are challenged to deliver an adequate supply of water, especially if constrained by the need to reduce carbon emissions.  

In this context, there is room for some guarded optimism at the press release yesterday by QuantumSphere.   They have developed a positive osmosis process to desalinate water.   When compared to the traditional reverse osmosis process they claim a 70% reduction in energy consumption.   The press release makes no mention of safety nor does it specify any test results for possible toxic outcomes.   So salt of the sea may very well provide more drinking water in the future but to be the salt of the earth the companies involved need to be humble in their claims about new technologies.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 7:02 am and is filed under Nanotechnology, New Technologies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.