Sea Level Rise Mitigation by Global Sea Water Desalination Using Renewable-Energy-Powered Plants

Muna Hindiyeh,Mustafa Jaradat,Osama Khalil,Rashed Altarawneh,Ramez Abdallah,Aiman Albatayneh,Adel Juaidi,Qasem Abdelal,Mejdi Jeguirim,Murad Al-Omary,Tarek Tayara,Partick Dutournié

doi:10.3390/su13179552

Abstract

This work suggests a solution for preventing/eliminating the predicted Sea Level Rise (SLR) by seawater desalination and storage through a large number of desalination plants distributed worldwide; it also comprises that the desalinated seawater can resolve the global water scarcity by complete coverage for global water demand. Sea level rise can be prevented by desalinating the additional water accumulated into oceans annually for human consumption, while the excess amount of water can be stored in dams and lakes. It is predicted that SLR can be prevented by desalination plants. The chosen desalination plants for the study were Multi-Effect Desalination (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants that are powered by renewable energy using wind and solar technologies. It is observed that the two main goals of the study are fulfilled when preventing an SLR between 1.0 m and 1.3 m by 2100 through seawater desalination, as the amount of desalinated water within that range can cover the global water demand while being economically viable.

Highlights

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralClimate change, sea rise, energy demand and clean water supply crisis: these are the main concerns for most of the scientific community and humanity in recent years.with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil-1.1
The predicted change in oceans, seas and bays volume (VSLR) corresponding to an Sea Level Rise (SLR) between (0.1–2.5 m) was calculated by applying Equation (1), and the results show that the volume of oceans, seas and bays will increase by 36.19 trillion m3
The daily increase in oceans volume was calculated by assuming that the increase will take place on a daily manner; the VSLR will be evenly distributed on 27,393.75 days (75 years), and Figure 1 shows the findings that resulted from applying Equation (2)

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralClimate change, sea rise, energy demand and clean water supply crisis: these are the main concerns for most of the scientific community and humanity in recent years.with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil-1.1. Sea rise, energy demand and clean water supply crisis: these are the main concerns for most of the scientific community and humanity in recent years. The Earth’s climate has always been changing, even before human existence, but in the last 150 years, the Earth’s temperature has been rising more rapidly than the norm. Some regions around the globe are warming faster than others, but on average, the average global air temperature near the surface has increased by two degrees in the past 100 years; the last 6 years have been the warmest years in centuries [1]. Many scientists brought up the concern of human effects on nature, starting from 1838, when the French physicist Claude Pouillet proposed that the accumulation of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might trap infrared radiation and warm the globe [2]. In 1863, John Tyndall was the first to measure the effects of different gases on the absorption and transmission of solar radiation in the Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Methods

Results

Conclusion