NEW YORK, May 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Thirsty Middle Eastern and North African countries could tap into their solar-energy potential to cope with fresh water scarcity, according to resource experts.
Water could be saved by switching to renewable solar energy from fossil fuel electricity generation that uses up water, said the World Resources Institute (WRI).
The findings show moving to clean energy has benefits aside from cutting planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, said Tianyi Luo, a senior WRI manager.
Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan ranked among the top countries, measured by lack of freshwater and solar energy potential, that could benefit from such a switch, the WRI said.
Put another way, powering one 60-watt incandescent light bulb for 12 hours over one a year can consume 3,000 to 6,000 gallons of water, according to the U.S.-based Virginia Water Resources Research Center.
Solar panels, meanwhile, require little or no water to install and maintain.
Yemen, an impoverished nation in the grip of civil war, topped the WRI ranking in terms of water scarcity and how much potential electricity solar farms could produce.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, ranked third.
The project is expected to have the capacity to produce up to 200 gigawatts by 2030.
(Reporting by Sebastien Malo @sebastienmalo, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst

Coal Authority to clean up its act with the help of UK solar.
The Coal Authority has appointed three solar installation companies to a new four-year renewable energy framework to install solar across its estate.
It tested a small-scale PV installation at one mine water treatment scheme previously and, having considered it to be a cost-effective way to improve its sustainability, has appointed three installers to develop solar PV across its portfolio of 75 mine water treatment sites.
Those solar installers are HBS New Energies, Campbell & Kennedy, and Forrest.
HBS New Energies successfully landed three sites in a tender bidding process and is now working to complete a 74kW installation on Chester South Moor, a 250kW array at Deerplay, and a 60kW install at Old Meadows.
Those three solar systems are expected to generate a total of 317,065kWh of electricity each year and save the facilities 167.72 tonnes of carbon emissions.
Phil Broughton, innovation project manager at the Coal Authority, said: “We were very pleased with the responsiveness and commitment given by HBS New Energies to deliver these projects against tight deadlines.
It’s great to see the immediate benefit brought by the solar arrays in terms of low carbon sustainability and operational cost savings.” Meanwhile HBS New Energies’ team is now collaborating with the authority to investigate the feasibility, planning and development for the next tranche of ground-mount installations to be released for tender.
“This large-scale solar PV programme is a clear sign of the authority’s future intentions as they look to increase their on-site renewable energy generation.
The deployment of solar power will help the Coal Authority to meet its aim of off-setting the costs of managing water treatment on site, whilst enhancing their sustainable operations,” Stuart Gentry, business development director at HBS New Energies, said.

20 MW Solar Power Plant to come up at Phey.
Leh,June 27, (Scoop News)- In connection with installation of a mega Solar Power Plant of the capacity of 20 Megawatt on 800 kanals of land at Phey through JKPDC, the Ladakh Affairs and Cooperative Minister, Chhering Dorjey visited Phey village today to discuss the matter and other way out with the people in terms of providing land for the project and other issues such as lifting of irrigational water from Indus and drinking water which are proposed to be provided to the Phey villagers under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of PDC.
As such, Minister said that it is high time to do this pending work under Corporate Social Responsibility of PDC that would considerably solve the problem of water scarcity in the village besides getting a dependable drinking water supply scheme to the villagers.
The Minister told to the villagers that work on this Solar Power project and lift irrigation system shall be simultaneously started from this working season and as such Mr. Dorjey keeping in mind maximum benefit to the Phey villagers from this project urged them to extend fullest cooperation to the Power Dev.
Corporation in realizing the project in a smooth way.
The Minister also indicated of installing few more hydel power projects of bigger capacity in Nubra, Lalok and Leh and hoped to start the works on these projects within few years.
The Minister also assured to the Phey villagers that he would make efforts to adopt Phey village under CSR of PDC that would tremendously help for overall development of the village.
The villagers put forth few demands to the Minister that include black topping of the approach road, completion of internal road and installation of a motorable bridge over the Indus in place of the foot suspension bridge connecting other side of the Indus which was washed away by the flood in 2010.
The Councilor area, Phuntsog Dorjey and Exen.
JK PDC , Shiv Kumar also accompanied the Minister during his visit to Phey.

Solar energy powers clean water, business opportunities for refugees.
DAR ES SALAAM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sadick Thenest remembers how his 8-year-old daughter had a narrow brush with death two years ago, when she contracted cholera after drinking contaminated water.
“She was so gaunt, weak and had terrible diarrhea,” said the refugee from Burundi.
“I always ensure that my children use clean and safe water,” he said.
“I have instructed them to wash their hands with soap after using a toilet.” Thenest, who works as a technician with international engineering charity Water Mission, said the health situation in the camp is improving as more people get access to clean water from a recently installed solar-powered water treatment facility.
As part of a broader initiative to help refugees access clean energy and sanitation, Water Mission is installing more such plants in three refugee camps in western Tanzania.
The $5.3 million project, funded by the Denmark-based Poul Due Jensen Foundation, is expected to provide safe water for some 250,000 refugees in Nyarugusu, Nduta and Mtendeli camps.
“We will document saved lives and ensure general public health, as a result of safe water,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
A recent shipment of 780 solar panels to Tanzania will produce 226,000 watts of power and provide a continuous supply of safe water to keep children in good health, it said in a statement.
Yet while access to clean energy for refugees and their host communities is a global priority for UNHCR, analysts say millions of displaced people still lack access to sustainable, cheap energy sources because of a lack of funding.

Solar energy powers clean water, business opportunities for refugees.
By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM, June 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sadick Thenest remembers how his 8-year-old daughter had a narrow brush with death two years ago, when she contracted cholera after drinking contaminated water.
"I always ensure that my children use clean and safe water," he said.
Thenest, who works as a technician with international engineering charity Water Mission, said the health situation in the camp is improving as more people get access to clean water from a recently installed solar-powered water treatment facility.
As part of a broader initiative to help refugees access clean energy and sanitation, Water Mission is installing more such plants in three refugee camps in western Tanzania.
The $5.3 million project, funded by the Denmark-based Poul Due Jensen Foundation, is expected to provide safe water for some 250,000 refugees in Nyarugusu, Nduta and Mtendeli camps.
"We will document saved lives and ensure general public health, as a result of safe water," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
A recent shipment of 780 solar panels to Tanzania will produce 226,000 watts of power and provide a continuous supply of safe water to keep children in good health, it said in a statement.
Yet while access to clean energy for refugees and their host communities is a global priority for UNHCR, analysts say millions of displaced people still lack access to sustainable, cheap energy sources because of a lack of funding.
Providing solar street lamps and lanterns and energy-efficient cooking stoves can greatly improve the lives of refugees and contribute to their protection, Okello said.

To slow climate change, India joins the renewable energy revolution.
An energy pricing revolution Prime Minister Modi’s renewable energy agenda aims to increase India’s grid-tied renewable energy capacity from roughly 57 gigawatts in May 2017 to 175GW in 2022, with most of the increase coming through a major expansion in solar.
It is expected to jump by more than 100GW over the next six years, and increase further to 175GW before 2030.
Coal currently provides nearly 60 percent of India’s of total installed electricity generating capacity of 330GW, but the government projects it will decline substantially as solar power ramps up.
For the moment, large-scale solar and wind are roughly similar in price and lower than nuclear and fossil fuels.
Indeed, where emerging economies are installing new power generation capacity, the economic argument in favor of renewables is strong and getting stronger.
It saves them foreign exchange by substituting solar energy for imports of oil, gas and coal.
Three key conditions Three conditions are critical for this structural shift to continue in India and globally: growth in energy demand, innovation to make electricity grids more reliable and adequate land for installing solar modules.
Broader adoption of renewable power production in emerging economies is not the only solution to climate change challenges.
Countries such as India, China, France and ISA members are demonstrating that a failure of U.S. leadership need not stand in the way of a renewables revolution.

Solar Powered Condenser Turns Ambient Humidity into Drinking Water.
MIT and UC-Berkeley Scientists recently demonstrated a new device designed to collect water straight from ambient air using only solar power.
This water harvester can even pull moisture in desert climates where humidity is as low as 20 percent.
At any moment, it’s estimated that atmosphere contains about 3,100 cubic miles of water vapor, which is enough to cover the entire surface of the Earth with one inch of water if it fell all at once.
In addition to its most visible form, clouds, atmospheric water is also present in clear air and the entire system is recycled every nine days.
Solar Powered Condenser; Off-Grid Water Harvester Researchers at MIT, in collaboration with the University of California Berkeley, have developed a prototype for a device that pulls water from clear air using solar power.
The device, reported in the journal Science, is an open air chamber containing a lattice-like structure made from a metal-organic framework (MOF), produced at the UC-Berkeley.
By the same year, two-thirds of the global population could be living under water-stressed conditions.
Developing solutions to sanitize water and produce it where it is scarce is a major challenge for many countries.
And there’s no resource more accessible than ambient air.

Solar Powered Water Harvester Turns Desert Air Into Drinking Water.
Scientists demonstrated a new device designed to collect water straight from the ambient air using only solar power.
This water harvester can even pull moisture in desert climates where average humidity is as low as 20 percent.
Off-Grid Water Harvester Researchers at MIT, in collaboration with the University of California Berkeley, have developed a prototype for a device that pulls water from the air, using only ambient sunlight.
And there’s no resource more accessible than ambient air.
Considering what this device was able to produce at 20-30% humidity, it would be extremely useful in a densely-populated, consistently high-humidity city like San Antonio.
Abroad Outerbate, a village high in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, is home to an 80-year old water supply system.
But, what if MIT’s water harvester could be implemented in Outerbate?
The average regional humidity is 40-80%.
Where else could this system help most?

Solar Powered Water Harvester Turns Desert Air Into Drinking Water.
Scientists demonstrated a new device designed to collect water straight from the ambient air using only solar power.
This water harvester can even pull moisture in desert climates where average humidity is as low as 20 percent.
Off-Grid Water Harvester Researchers at MIT, in collaboration with the University of California Berkeley, have developed a prototype for a device that pulls water from the air, using only ambient sunlight.
And there’s no resource more accessible than ambient air.
Considering what this device was able to produce at 20-30% humidity, it would be extremely useful in a densely-populated, consistently high-humidity city like San Antonio.
Abroad Outerbate, a village high in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, is home to an 80-year old water supply system.
But, what if MIT’s water harvester could be implemented in Outerbate?
The average regional humidity is 40-80%.
Where else could this system help most?

Many people across the world die every year due to lack of water in drought-affected areas.
We often heard stories that the water shortage could be one of the major reason of the world war.
But in the near future, you might not face such problems.
MIT Technology has built a device that can produce water from the dry air.
Using this material, MIT has created a water harvester that utilizes only solar power to pull water from the dry air.
Reportedly this can draw three liters of water from the dry air with low humidity (20 to 30%) in just 12 hours.
Senior author of the paper, Omar Yaghi said that this is a great invention to overcome the long-term problem, to draw water from the dry air.
Before this, we have no other way, except by using extra energy.
These metals with organic particles create a hard but porous design that can hold liquids and gasses.
But this new water harvester uses the MOF designed by Yaghi and his team in 2014 at UC Berkley.