The Vision for Producing Fresh Water Using Space Solar Power
- Climate crisis leads to water shortages partially as a result of the increasing accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere. It is affecting the global water infrastructure including hydropower, flood defense, drainage, and irrigation systems. The adverse climate effect on freshwater systems aggravates population growth and weakens economies. In the western U.S. reduced water supplies combined with increased demand are provoking more interstate and urban–rural water resource competition.
- Seawater desalination has existed for decades and is a proven technology for supplying water. Continued coastal population growth makes it economically feasible to consider seawater desalination as a major metropolitan water source.
- Offshore oil and gas platforms already use seawater desalination to produce small-scale fresh water for platform personnel and equipment. As California coastal platforms reach the end of their productive lives, they can be re-commissioned for use as large-scale fresh water production facilities. Platform-mounted solar arrays can provide part of the power needed for seawater desalination. Efficient fresh water production requires a facility to be operated 24 hours a day.
- Solar power transmitted from orbiting satellites (Solar Power Satellites – SPS) is able to augment the power generated from natural sunlight. A SPS in geo-synchronous orbit (GEO) is able to produce power day and night, thus enabling 24 hours a day operations. A SPS is conceptually similar to an existing commercial communication satellite but with a much larger solar array. One SPS can power a platform seawater desalination plant during the night and supplement the power during the day. Production of industrial quantities of fresh water on re-commissioned oil and gas platforms, using energy transmitted from solar power satellites, is a breakthrough architecture that uses space assets to solve pressing climate, water, and economic issues of the 21st Century.
Scaling metrics for Space WaterISS-class solar power satellite Gross metric with no inefficiencies Fresh water production 700 m3/day or 170,000 gal/day Population served 3000 people Power required 120 kW
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