Spain generated 42% of its electricity from renewable energy sources in 2022 and it hopes to reach 50% this year, but it still uses large amounts of planet-warming natural gas. The more pressing problem for the planet is the energy-intensive processes involved in desalination. This treated water that is reintroduced upstream and then available to be pulled back into the city’s supply now accounts for 25% of Barcelona’s water. Instead, Sánchez-Vila applauds the boost in Barcelona’s use of treated sewage water in a separate treatment plant sitting next to the Llobregat desalination facility. A few more maybe, but knowing that these are a really expensive solution.”
“But in economic terms, I am not completely sure whether it makes sense to keep building them. “Of course, with climate change we know that droughts are going to be more frequent and therefore there is this need (for desalination),” he said. Xavier Sánchez-Vila, professor of civil engineering and groundwater expert for the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, said that while desalination plants like the one in Barcelona have provided a lifeline in a time of crisis, authorities should continue to diversify their strategies and focus on improving water purification and reuse.
That means a heavier tax burden and, possibly, higher water bills. This small miracle of scientific innovation, however, includes even more costs.Īccording to the public company that runs the Llobregat plant, a thousand liters of desalinated water costs 0.70 euros to produce, compared to 0.20 euros for the same quantity of water pulled from the Llobregat river and purified for drinking. It also pledged to spend 224 million euros ($242 million) on improving water purification systems in southern Spain. If that were dedicated solely for human consumption, it would quench the thirst of 34 million people - over 70% of Spain’s population.Īs part of a 2.2-billion euro ($2.4-billion) drought response package, Spain’s national government said this week that it was setting aside 220 million euros ($238 million) to expand another desalination plant north of Barcelona, plus another 200 million euros ($216 million) for a plant on Spain’s southern coast. Spain has some 800 desalination plants that can produce 5 million cubic liters a day of water for drinking, agriculture, and industry. Desalination capacity has steadily gone up worldwide in the past decade, with the technology seeing a bigger uptick in Europe and Africa. Spain is now fourth in the world for its desalination capacity, about 5% of the global total, behind Saudi Arabia, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Spanish Association of Desalination and Water Re-utilization.
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