I came across an interesting video on Yahoo today about windmills that produce water mimicking rain creation. Marc Parent, the inventor, has created a windmill that produces clean water from humidity in the air. He got the idea from salvaging water from air conditioners and feeding it into a tank.
Wind turbines suck in air, and the electricity generated cools the air turning steam into water. He says it is a solution for very remote areas, and arid areas. There is already some interest from the Middle East. Each turbine can produce about 800 liters of water per day, but it is costly, as each system costs between 9 to 25,000 Euros.
A video featuring the process can be found here.
Do you think this kind of technology has a useful place in solving the water crisis facing many countries?
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2 comments:
I'm not sure the answer to your question, but windmills can be easily constructed in places with few resources. I'm thinking in particular of my own "area" of expertise, Malawi: William Kamkwamba, a secondary-school leaver, used an old textbook and all locally sourced second-hand materials to create a windmill that powered a lightbulb in his family's home in a rural village.
Kim, thanks for the link to Mr. Kamkwamba's page. Now this kind of local technology gives me hope about technological fixes. I like the idea of the water from air windmill, but like other technology proposed to end water scarcity it is extremely costly. Now if there was a way to take the principles and use local materials as the teacher did in your example, we may be onto something!
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