全球首个海底海水淡化设施将提供饮用水

TURNING seawater into drinking water is so costly and energy-intensive that it is untenable in most parts of the world, but a Norwegian company is trialling a new approach that could change that. Flocean will launch the world’s first commercial-scale subsea desalination plant this year, and says its system will dramatically cut the cost and energy consumption of the process. The leading technology for desalination today is reverse osmosis, whereby seawater is pumped through a membrane with microscopic holes that only allow water molecules through, while salt and other impurities get filtered out. The water has to be pressurised to push it through the filters, which requires vast amounts of energy. …