Extreme variability in rainfall and temperature are the new norm in the Middle East and North Africa and its consequences are especially severe for the Arab world.
A new publication, Renewable Energy Desalination, provides one solution for adapting to the changing climate while meeting growing water demands. The work, supported by the Water Partnership Program (WPP), proposes closing the region’s water gap through desalination run on renewable energy rather than conventional fossil fuels. The strategy seeks to promote both energy and water security by capitalizing on two of the region’s abundant resources: solar energy and seawater.
Renewable Energy Desalination is a timely source offering new ideas for integrating adaptation into policy making. The book’s recommendations will help ensure inclusive and sustainable climate mitigation actions throughout the MENA region, as promoted by a new World Bank special report on Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Countries launched in November 2012 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP-18) in Doha, Qatar. The book builds on an improved understanding of water issues in the MENA region provided by earlier groundwork studies on future climate change implications for the region’s water gap and on options for desalination. It uses the “marginal cost of water” approach for prioritizing options for reducing the water gap, considering the associated economic costs, energy requirements, and environmental considerations of using fossil fuels and renewable energy sources, and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) in particular. It also highlights the benefits of coupling desalination with CSP to generate a competitive energy supply that could ensure sustainable water supply for the region over time. More
