Vision for Producing Fresh Water Using Space Power

Abstract

There is an escalating climate crisis that is stressing the Earth’s environment partially a result of the increasing accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere. One area that is significantly affected is the water infrastructure around the planet including hydropower, flood defense, drainage, and irrigation systems. The effect of adverse climate change on freshwater systems aggravates population growth, weakening economic conditions, land-use changes, and urbanization. In the western U.S., for example, reduced water supplies plus increased demand are likely to provoke more interstate and urban–rural competition for over-allocated water resources. Seawater desalination has existed for decades and is a proven technology for supplying water in coastal areas. Continued population growth in coastal areas makes it economically feasible to begin considering seawater desalination as a larger source for metropolitan water supplies. It is noted that offshore oil and gas platforms already use seawater desalination to produce fresh water for platform personnel and equipment. It is proposed that as California coastal oil and gas platforms come to the end of their productive lives, they be re-commissioned for use as large-scale fresh water production facilities. Solar arrays, mounted on the platforms, are able to provide the power needed for seawater desalination during the daytime. However, for efficient fresh water production, including on oil platforms, a facility must be operated 24 hours a day. The use of solar power transmitted from orbiting satellites (Solar Power Satellites – SPS) to substantially augment the solar array power generated from natural sunlight is a feasible concept. The advantage of a SPS in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) is that it is able to produce power at nighttime, thus enabling 24 hours a day operations. A SPS would be conceptually similar to existing commercial communication satellites but with a much larger solar array. A single satellite could power at least one seawater distillation plant on a converted offshore oil platform during the night and supplement the power during the day to provide clean energy and water for urban or agricultural on-shore areas. Production of industrial quantities of fresh water on re-commissioned oil and gas platforms, using energy transmitted from solar power satellites, is a breakthrough concept for addressing the pressing climate, water, and economic issues of the 21 Century. It is a novel combination of mature technologies that provides new solutions and expert team feasibility studies are the next step to evaluate this vision for producing fresh water using space power.