Drinking Water Being Condensed Out of the Air

One of the wind turbines. Photo courtesy: Eole Water

A new concept, that many consider to "cool", being tested in the Abu Dhabi desert uses a wind turbine to condense water from the air and pump it into storage tanks for filtration and purification. The technology was created by Eole Water after its founder, Marc Parent, was inspired by the water he could collect from his air conditioner unit while living in the Caribbean. He began thinking of ways that water could be condensed from air in areas without access to grid power and the wind turbine concept was born.

The 30-kW wind turbine houses and powers the whole system. Air is taken in through vents in the nose cone of the turbine and then heated by a generator to make steam. The steam goes through a cooling compressor that creates moisture which is then condensed and collected. The water produced is sent through pipes down to stainless steel storage tanks where it's filtered and purified.

How the turbine works. Image courtesy: Eole Water

A prototype of the technology has been installed in Abu Dhabi since October and has been capable of producing 500 to 800 liters of clean water a day from the dry desert air. Eole Water says that volume can increase to 1,000 liters a day with a tower-top system. The system requires wind speeds of 15 miles per hour or higher to produce water.

This technology uses a simple process that has been experimented with in a variety of designs, but this is the first powered by a wind turbine. That component makes it able to produce large quantities of clean water in areas that don't have ready access to it without requiring grid power, which makes it especially promising for remote communities and disaster areas. Eole has already landed 12 industrial partners for manufacturing the turbines.

Now, call me a panic monger if you will; but, I have to wonder what kind of effect(s) this will have on the animals and plants that depend on the water in the desert air also.

Most desert species of lizards, skinks, scorpions and the like get their water requirements filled from the food they eat and/or drinking the tiny amounts of water that condense on plants overnight. If the turbines take the moisture out of the air before it condenses on the plants, there may no longer be enough moisture left in the air to support these fragile ecosystems as they are now. Then what happens?

The difficulty I have with all these projects is that distract people away from the only true, sustainable course of action. The way to clean water is to spend this money on upgrading sewer systems; putting "pitbull" aggressiveness and teeth into upholding environmental laws; beginning a massive cleanup of our rivers, beaches and oceans; immediate outlawing of all toxic chemicals; a world-wide massive clean-up of our environment...or...surely, we will spiral out of existance due to our own short-shighted idiocy.

Samso - In The Red and Loving It!

Denmark seems to be constantly redefining the “gold standard” in ecotechnology. In the past 10 years, the Danish island of Samso has managed to cut its carbon footprint by a mind-blowing 140%. This has all been accomplished with a simple grid of windfarms, solar panels and sheep. Samso has been so successful that they are able to export their excess electricity to the mainland.

Samso used to be known mainly for its rich, sweet strawberries and delicately flavored early potatoes; but, there is history everywhere you look on this island also. The Vikings built ships and constructed canals here. Now the structures you see are of a much different nature.

Ten years ago, the island was almost entirely dependent on the oil and petrol brought in by tankers; and, from coal-powered electricity transmitted to them through a mainland cable link. Today that situation has been reversed. Samsingers export millions of kilowatt hours of electricity from the renewable energy sources implemented on their tiny island to the rest of Denmark. By managing to supply all their own needs plus export to the mainland, Samsingers have managed to reduce their carbon footprint enough to be the first community to have a negative footprint that I am aware of. While the rest of us are struggling to reduce our footprint – 0% carbon footprint seeming an unattainable standard – the island of Samso is already operating in the red (and proud of it!)

Change has taken place right across the island and is clearly visible to the naked eye. Solar, biomass, wind and wood-chip power generators have been multiplying across the island while traditional fossil fuel plants have been closed and dismantled. Dozens of wind turbines are scattered about the island, houses have solar-panels in the roofs, and a long line of wind turbines operate off the southern tip of Samso.

Hot water is pumped to homes by the district heating systems that are linked from town to town. The systems are powered by either rows of solar panels that cover entire fields or by generators which burn excess straw from local farms or timber chips cut from the environmentally-maintained forests on the island.

No one has forced or imposed these standards of living on the Samsingers. Neither have they received any money from major energy companies. Instead, they have all joined together and each plant on the island is either individually or collectively (group) owned.

These islanders wanted to show the rest of the world what could be done to alleviate climate change and still live comfortably.

Towns are linked to district heating systems that pump hot water to homes. These are either powered by rows of solar panels covering entire fields, or by generators which burn straw from local farms, or timber chips cut from the island's woods.
None of these enterprises has been imposed by outsiders or been funded by major energy companies. Each plant is owned either by a collective of local people or by an individual islander. The Samso revolution has been an exercise in self-determination - a process in which islanders have decided to demonstrate what can be done to alleviate climate damage without necessarily giving up the “good life”.

Secret EcoVillage In Wales Discovered

Tony Wrench and Jane Faith outside their home in Brithdir Mawr, Wales. Photograph: Phil Rees/Rex Features

Unknown to authorities an ecovillage was secretly erected in a Welsh national park and was only discovered during an aerial survey of the park.

It has taken 10 years; but, authorities at Brithdir Mawr, in Pembrokeshire, ruled that the environmentally-friendly settlement reminiscent of Bilbo Baggins’ home in the Lord of the Rings could remain. The buildings, made up of timber-framed, turf-roofed roundhouses, were secretly made by the inhabitants looking for a sustainable way of life. They lived there unnoticed until the aerial survey which was carried out in 1998.

At first, the villagers were threatened with eviction and the authorities said the roundhouses which were built of straw, timber, recycled materials, clay and manure were to be torn down and left to decompose naturally.

However, the villagers fought back believing strongly in their way of life. It took a decade of hearings, court cases and inquiries; but, they finally won and the settlement has been saved from destruction.

Amazingly, the village is very progressive in some ways using solar power and a wind turbine for electricity, compost toilets, reed beds, a workshop and a hay barn.

Water is collected locally, and the villagers survive by working the land and carrying out craft industries such as woodcarving.

After the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority adopted a new policy on sustainable, low-impact developments, it was decided to give the village permission to stay.

A spokeswoman said that meant the community would have to make a "positive environmental and social/economic contribution to the area".

"It was pleasing that support could be given at this stage for this longstanding, complicated case," she said.

The national park authority will review the decision in three years.