Australia was once more than 50% covered in rainforest. Wouldn’t it be nice to get at least some of that back?
Water scarcity and pollution are known to be major problems for our planet, but they cannot be solved with old, familiar and linear concepts.
Many ideas cannot be implemented, even when they are desperately needed. They simply fail because of existing structures that cannot be changed. As in the case of concrete-bound countries.
Colourful, majestic waterfall in the national park forest in autumn, panorama – Image
But in a country steeped in the pioneering spirit of its people, where vast tracts of undeveloped land are waiting to be urbanised, it would be a different story if a convincing new concept could be introduced to regain what has already been lost. On top of this, climate change is now threatening the region’s very existence, as too much and too little water form a disastrous alliance.
Both the topography and the climate favour an idea which, with the help of a new infrastructure based on solar energy, can solve all water problems by harmonising a number of things, e.g.: bringing pure drinking water, mobile and continuously extracted from seawater, to any desired location in sufficient quantities. By accurately reading the topography, it might also be possible to place water in the right places where forest and wild fires are common, and fight them automatically. (Would also work in colder climates).
Mobile seawater desalination makes it possible to bring the required quantities of drinking water to any desired location and dispense it in precisely metered quantities.
Pure drinking water obtained from seawater on a mobile and continuous basis can be taken to any desired location in sufficient quantities to create new biotopes, even rainforests, e.g. in the Australian outback, using the topography as an advantage, i.e. distributing the water like a river, downhill or uphill. Even better, it can be precisely metered according to the needs of the region.
At the same time, it acts as a reservoir and a regulator that counteracts flooding.
Replenish groundwater reservoirs, prevent forest fires before they start.
Distillation technology is used here, and I see further advantages in a mobile plant compared to a stationary plant, because it makes optimum use of the thermodynamic effects available, and the construction can be even simpler and therefore more cost-effective.
The quantities of pure salt produced will be given free to those who have been making a living from seawater salt extraction. What is left over can either be used commercially, perhaps for electricity and heat storage, or returned to the sea at the point of extraction. Dosed and dispersed in such a way that the ecosystem is not affected in any way.
It can be both ecological and economic, virtually self-financing as an attractive investment opportunity.
All the technical components come from known and proven applications in all climatic zones and require no development time apart from calculating the dimensions.
The fact that the Australians are more than aware of this problem can be seen from the fact that there are constant symposia, exhibitions etc. such as those in the link below:
Home – IDA WCC 2023 (idadesal.org)
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