Desalination is energy down the drain and the next worst idea, says commentary

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on March 2, 2009 at 3:04 pm

This next article is posted on the Oil Drum blog, and is prefaced thus:

This is a guest essay by Debbie Cook, former Mayor of Huntington Beach, CA and ASPO-USA Board member. Debbie recently lost the election for the 46th Congressional district in California. It is a testament to our nations current focus that we have few leaders like her in DC aware that energy and natural resources are ultimately what we have to spend. Her essay looks at the energy required to turn ocean water into potable water. The interrelationships of energy and water in our social systems will be paramount going forward–as we need water to procure most energy and energy to procure most water. And we are learning that more money won’t magically procure more of either.

Debbie Cook’s commentary begins:

The next worst idea to turning tar sands into synthetic crude is turning ocean water into municipal drinking water. Sounds great until you zoom in on the environmental costs and energetic consequences. It may be technically feasible, but in the end it is unsustainable and will be just one more stranded asset.

In 2003, I was one of two elected officials invited to serve on the California Desalination Task Force. The task force was the result of Assembly Bill 2717 (Hertzberg), authorizing the Department of Water Resources to study desalination facilities and “report on potential opportunities and impediments…”

For nearly a year, an unwieldy group of individuals representing a multitude of agencies, industry, and environmental organizations convened around the state to study and prepare a report with their recommendations. As you can imagine, the membership was largely divided into two camps—those with a horse in the race and those without.

The Task Force provided me with the opportunity to learn about this emerging technology but more importantly, to learn about the relationship between water and energy in California. Within a few years my interest in water had blossomed into an obsession with our energy future and peak oil. It is my knowledge of our energy and resource constraints that leads me to reject ocean desalination as the water of our future.

Make no mistake, California has a serious water crisis. But it cannot be addressed in isolation of our energy crisis. The problem was summed up perfectly in a 2005 California Energy Commission (CEC) presentation title: “There is no electricity crisis in California the water agencies can’t solve—or make worse.”

Water is energy. According to the CEC, 10% of all electricity production in California is consumed in moving water around the state; another 9% for treating, disposing, pumping, heating, cooling, and pressurizing water.

Read more of this commentary from the Oil Drum - which has already generated 58 comments, even though it was posted only this morning - by clicking here.

March 2, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Huntington Beach, Water & Energy

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Countywide poll uncovers widespread concern over Orange County’s water supply; 70% of county voters support seawater desalination

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 2, 2008 at 5:52 am

From Market Watch:

Today the Orange County Business Council and the Los Angeles/Orange County Building Trades Council released the results of a jointly sponsored public opinion survey measuring Orange County residents’ attitudes toward the county’s water supply. The poll of registered voters uncovered widespread concern about water reliability and revealed broad support for tapping the Pacific Ocean as one way to address the county and region’s water shortages.

The countywide telephone survey conducted the week of September 22nd demonstrated the public is attune to Orange County’s water supply crisis as county officials scramble to prepare for additional cuts to the county’s imported water supply (Click here to view the Memorandum: http://media.marketwire.com/attachments/200810/471678_OCBC-OCBTCWATERPOLLMEMO.doc).

Some of the key findings from the survey include:

– 87% of respondents believe that Orange County needs new sources of
fresh water.
– 72% of respondents believe that seawater desalination is a good idea.
– 71% believe that local water agencies should add desalinated seawater
to their overall water portfolio.
– 61% said would pay a few dollars more on their monthly water bill for
high quality desalinated water that is drought-proof and reliable.

“Orange County residents overwhelmingly support innovative solutions to improve water reliability,” said Lucy Dunn, President of the Orange County Business Council. “The state has already approved one seawater desalination plant for San Diego County; now Orange County must also ensure a local, drought-proof water supply for our residents and businesses. We urge state and local officials to move quickly and approve the proposed Desalination Facility in Huntington Beach,” she said.

Read the rest of this story from Market Watch by clicking here.

October 2, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Huntington Beach

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Poseidon leaves many questions unanswered regarding proposed Huntington Beach plant

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 7, 2008 at 6:07 am

From the O.C. Voice:

An environmental scientist for the California Coastal Commission says that the cost of water to be produced by a desalination plant approved by the city of Huntington Beach has been greatly underestimated by the developer and that proposed mitigation measures for its impact on ocean marine life are inadequate.

The project was approved by the H.B. City Council (including current councilmembers Don Hansen, Keith Bohr, Cathy Green and Gil Coerper) in Feb. 2006.

The remarks were part of a letter to Poseidon Resources Inc., the multi-national corporate water corporation that will oversee construction of the plant that would suck in 100 million gallons of ocean water every day and convert it into 50 million gallons of drinking water. Poseidon plans to co-locate with the AES power generating plant on Newland Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway to take cost-saving advantage of the plant’s “once-through cooling” system to gather the ocean water it needs for conversion.

Once-through cooling systems are also used by 20 other antiquated power plants along the California coast and suck in 17 billion gallons of seawater each year, killing virtually all the marine organisms passing through their membranes, a significant contributor to the 60 percent decline in marine species, according to a 2005 report by the California Energy Commission.

A recent court ruling, as well as legislative trends and a resolution by the California State Lands Commission, are bringing once-through cooling to a close, sooner or later. “It’s the end of once-through cooling systems in the U.S.”, Surfrider Foundation desalination expert Joe Geever told the Voice in September, adding, “AES is fighting the changes tooth and nail.”

One of the main questions left inadequately answered is how much the water will actually cost. Poseidon has said the desalinated water would cost $800 per acre-foot, but this is based on unrealistic power costs and subsidies that may never materialize, critics say. They believe the water could end up costing as much as $1400 to $1500 per acre-foot.

Read the full text of this post on the O.C. Voice blog by clicking here.

May 7, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Huntington Beach

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Huntington Beach Desalination facility teams up with Poseidon

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 8, 2007 at 7:50 pm

Poseidon Resources announced its development team for the proposed Huntington Beach desalination facility. Three companies will be partnering with Poseidon to develop the $250 million facility, which would have the ability to supply 50 million gallons of drinking water each day, which amounts to about 7% of water used in the county.

From the Huntington Beach Independent:

The plant still has several major hurdles, however. A recent federal court ruling put into question the legal status of the AES power plant it will use for water and cooling. And it must still get permits from the California State Lands Commission and the California Coastal Commission.

Despite those obstacles, Poseidon Resources thinks the plant’s chances are good, company spokeswoman Brenda Anaya said. “We’re very optimistic as far as the current political climate in California,” Anaya said. “With the current drought we’re experiencing, global warming, little by little the public is going to demand from the government an alternative source of water.”

The Aqua Blog Maven has added emphasis above, and would like to point out that the desalination facility would use enormous amounts of electricity, and would therefore *contribute* to global warming, not alleviate it.

Much has been in the news on desalination in Southern California. To read more articles, check out the desalination category to the right of this post.

June 8, 2007 · Filed Under Desalination, Poseidon's Huntington Beach

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