Quote:
Originally Posted by matthewtrigg
Are there any ways to justify the energy demands of water desalination?
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There are quite a few and all are to satisfy the human basic need for water to live. Without water, a person will die in less than a week, without food twp weeks to over a month. Of course, without air, it is only several minutes.
Climate change from CO2 takes much longer. Overpopulation's short term needs trump the species long term needs in most human's psychology. The basic animal instinct to survive without the ability to think long term.
In Florida, salt water influx into ground water supplies that were overdrawn, pushed the need to the front. Many other coastal areas had the same thing happen. Desalination aboard nuclear ships is done to reduce space needed for long mission water requirements and weight.
Small scale solar evaporative/ natural condensation desalinators use no outside energy. However, these are rare.
The short answer is overpopulation is not justified with an intelligent species, and thus the energy demands of desalination without overpopulation
would be much, much less.