Renewable energy applications in desalination: state of the art

Millions of people have no access to a secure source of fresh water. Nevertheless, since many and regions are coastal areas, seawater desalination is a reasonable alternative. On the other hand, the energy requirements of desalination processes are high. Then, the energy supply in low development countries or isolated areas may be a problem, especially if electricity is required. Since most and regions have high renewable energy resources, the use of renewable energies in seawater desalination exhibits an interesting chance, or even the only way to offer a secure source of fresh water. The status and perspectives of development of coupling renewable energy systems with desalination units are reviewed. It is pointed out that there are place of development even for such technologies that seem to be the most mature ones. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.