On the other hand, the construction of infrastructures of this kind must not replace a policy of energy efficiency, the optimization of desalination plant fleets, the search to cut losses and waste, reducing consumption subsidies as well as the collection and treatment of wastewater. [...] For example, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Israel a loan of €150 million for the development of the Sorek II desalination plant, with a capacity of 200 million m3 per year, one of the largest in the world. [...] The development of desalination is at the heart of these five-year plans: in the vast majority of countries in the region, desalination capacity will double by 2030, or by 2050 at the latest. [...] For example, in the Middle East, agriculture accounts for more than 80% of water demand and the sector is constantly increasing its water footprint due to the region’s food security ambitions.6 French and European players are very present and integrated in local markets European players, especially the French and the Spanish, hold leading positions in the desalination market. [...] But desalination poses two problems: the release of brines into the seas and oceans; the high electricity consumption of desalination plants and therefore the potentially very high emission of GHGs related to the use of fossil fuels to produce electricity.
Authors
- Pages
- 30
- Published in
- Morocco
