Abu Dhabi builds solar-powered desalination plants

Water-starved Abu Dhabi has built 22 solar-powered desalination plants that produce 6,600 gallons of water each day.

Gulfnews.com reports that the desert nation’s new plants are a zero-carbon solution to more expensive traditional desalination facilities. Lacking abundant sources of fresh water, some gulf countries have had to rely on desalinating ocean or ground water as they developed. Besides being hugely expensive, the process is also environmentally harmful. The United Arab Emirates topped a British consultancy’s 2010 Carbon Polluter’s Index because of emissions from its desalination plants.

Additionally, the solar plants will provide a water source for an endangered species – the Arabian Oryx – that is being bred in captivity and reintroduced to the wild.

Read the full story at gulfnews.com