Wind turbines have long produced renewable energy but a French engineering firm has discovered another eco-purpose for the towering structures.
I’ve been giving these a bit of thought since they were first promoted and I think they could have practical application in remote locations – if they are sufficiently durable and reliable. Islands for example are notoriously difficult to supply with power and potable water and are often well supplied with wind and humidity.
Eole Water claims to have successfully modified the traditional wind turbine design to create the WMS1000, an appliance that can manufacture drinking water from humid air.
The company aims to start rolling out the giant products for sale later in 2012, initially focusing on remote communities in arid countries where water resources are scarce.
“This technology could enable rural areas to become self-sufficient in terms of water supply,” says Thibault Janin, director of marketing at Eole Water.
“As the design and capabilities develop, the next step will be to create turbines that can provide water for small cities or areas with denser populations,” he adds.
Eole Water is currently displaying a working prototype of the 24 meter tall WMS1000 in the desert near Abu Dhabi that has been able to produce 62 liters of water an hour, says Janin.
Sort of an odd article… They pull water out of humid air and are going to be marketed to arid regions. Am I confused? Aren’t arid regions known for non-humid air?
Even arid regions can have significant humidity – Mediterranean coastal areas, for example, can have really high humidity but no precipitation trigger.
I remember one complaint about Saudi Arabia “130 degrees and humid” yeah, it’s from a Bruce Willis movie, but it’s relevant here.
However, for some reason, I can’t help but think of Tatooine’s moisture farming.
“an appliance that can manufacture drinking water from humid air.”
we call those air conditioners or dehumidifiers……along the Gulf Coast we’re scratching our heads wondering what is so new about this. The typical home in Houston probably makes a few gallons a day in the summer months. Altho we rarely resort to drinking it with a few filters and such, why not?
Agreed.
It is not clear at all that using a wind turbine
to condense water from the air is the most
efficient way to do it. This may be a silly
attempt to give value to the bad idea of
wind turbines.
Price of that thing, figuring a depreciation of 10 years, must come down to 1% to be remotely competitive with fossil-fuel water distilling.
You’re pretty harsh guys
Transporting fuel can be a huge financial burden in remote locations. Far too expensive to waste limited supplies distilling water and far too little available when your supply run is a monthly barge run (as is the case for some inhabited islands to Australia’s north and east, for example).
Similarly Indonesia has a lot of small island coastal communities where it is not economic to supply reticulated water and power.
If their product is robust and durable I suspect they’ll find an eager marketplace.
At $790,000 each, you could have water
flown in cheaper.
But GC, $790K only covers the cost of a year or 2′s barge contracts for a lot of these places, most lacking airfields. As I said, if they are sufficiently durable there’s likely to be a market.
Ed’s right. All silliness and pop-culture references aside, there are probably niche markets, especially isolated islands without sufficient natural groundwater. It probably won’t compete with fossil-fired desalination in the Middle East, but it might eventually elsewhere.