Rob Creighton’s Recent Comments

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  Water and Energy

  Water scarcity and energy are tightly related.

  Power plants are some of the largest users of water.  

  Hydroelectric plants are being starved for water as more water is diverted for upstream uses.

  Pumping water uses about 7% of the total world energy supplies.

  As ground water tables drop it takes more and more energy to bring that water to the surface.  There are many areas of the world that have working pipes and pumps, they just can't afford the energy to run the pumps to bring the water where it is needed.

  About 85-90% of the cost of desalinated water is energy to run high-pressure pumps.

  My company, WindLift, is developing a system that uses kite energy to power water pumps.  This system could be 1/10th the cost of other small scale renewable energy systems.  We now have a working prototype, but it will be at least another year before we have a product on the market.On World Water Day, Grand Canyon film highlight water crisis posted 1 year, 8 months ago 11 Responses