Saudi Arabia Aims to Meet Water Needs with Solar Power
2023-09-22
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1Saudi Arabia is a dry place.
2In many areas, people there depend on turning saltwater from the Persian Gulf and Red Sea into drinkable, fresh water.
3That process is called desalination.
4Desalination centers supply drinking water to cities and towns in the kingdom.
5However, observers say the process of desalination is not good for the environment because it mostly uses oil and gas.
6One goal of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to make Saudia Arabia a leader in business and tourism.
7For this, the country must meet growing demands for water.
8But Saudi Arabia's environmental goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2060.
9So, the country's leaders say they want to reduce the amount of carbon gases produced.
10Some people say carbon gases are warming the Earth's atmosphere.
11A desalination plant in the eastern part of the country uses solar panels.
12The Jazlah plant is the first in Saudi Arabia to use solar power for desalination on a large scale.
13Officials said the panels will help save 60,000 tons of carbon emissions each year.
14More projects like Jazlah are needed because Prince Mohammed has another goal.
15He wants to increase the population to 100 million people by 2040.
16The country's current population is about 32.2 million.
17Marco Arcelli is chief of ACWA Power, the company that operates the Jazlah plant.
18He said, usually "the population grows, and then the quality of life of the population grows."
19That means more water will be needed in the future.
20Using desalination is a "do or die" issue, said historian Michael Christopher Low.
21He has studied the kingdom's struggle with water at the University of Utah in the United States.
22Low said this issue is a matter of survival for Saudia Arabia.
23At the same time, he added, "there are limits" to how desalination can be done so that it does not affect the environment.
24The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (or SWCC) is a government company that operates desalination and power plants in Saudi Arabia.
25The company says it produces 11.5 million cubic meters each day at 30 centers.
26But growth has come at a cost, especially at centers that use oil or gas.
27The AFP press agency reports that, by 2010, Saudi desalination plants were using 1.5 million barrels of oil per day.
28That is more than 15 percent of today's production.
29The SWCC said it wants to cut 37 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2025.
30The company hopes to do this by moving away from plants that use heat to separate water from salt to plants like Jazlah that use solar electricity-powered systems.
31The SWCC said in its latest report that solar power is expected to expand to 770 megawatts compared to 120 megawatts today.
32But how long that will take is unclear.
33In the future, there is little doubt Saudi Arabia will be able to build the systems required to produce the water it needs.
34"They have already done it in some of the most challenging settings, like massively desalinating on the Red Sea and providing desalinated water up to the highlands of the holy cities in Mecca and Medina," said Laurent Lambert.
35He is with the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
36At desalination plants across the kingdom, Saudi employees understand how important their work is.
37The Ras Al-Khair center produces 1.1 million cubic meters of water per day with 740,000 from heat technology and the rest from another process.
38The plant struggles to make enough fresh water because of high demand.
39Much of the water goes to Riyadh.
40That city requires 1.6 million cubic meters per day.
41It could require as much as 6 million cubic meters a day by 2030, said one employee who was not permitted to talk to the media and remains unidentified.
42Saudi Arabia first turned to desalination more than 100 years ago.
43During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, administrators used filtration machines for Muslim travelers observing the Hajj who had to deal with a lack of water and cholera.
44Drinking water has been a problem for Saudi Arabia since its founding in 1932.
45This led to geological studies that also helped identify the country's huge supplies of oil and gas.
46Leaders since have supervised the birth of the kingdom's modern desalination systems beginning in 1970.
47I'm Anna Matteo.
1Saudi Arabia is a dry place. In many areas, people there depend on turning saltwater from the Persian Gulf and Red Sea into drinkable, fresh water. That process is called desalination. 2Desalination centers supply drinking water to cities and towns in the kingdom. However, observers say the process of desalination is not good for the environment because it mostly uses oil and gas. 3One goal of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to make Saudia Arabia a leader in business and tourism. For this, the country must meet growing demands for water. 4But Saudi Arabia's environmental goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2060. So, the country's leaders say they want to reduce the amount of carbon gases produced. Some people say carbon gases are warming the Earth's atmosphere. 5A desalination plant in the eastern part of the country uses solar panels. The Jazlah plant is the first in Saudi Arabia to use solar power for desalination on a large scale. Officials said the panels will help save 60,000 tons of carbon emissions each year. 6More projects like Jazlah are needed because Prince Mohammed has another goal. He wants to increase the population to 100 million people by 2040. The country's current population is about 32.2 million. 7Marco Arcelli is chief of ACWA Power, the company that operates the Jazlah plant. He said, usually "the population grows, and then the quality of life of the population grows." That means more water will be needed in the future. 8Using desalination is a "do or die" issue, said historian Michael Christopher Low. He has studied the kingdom's struggle with water at the University of Utah in the United States. Low said this issue is a matter of survival for Saudia Arabia. At the same time, he added, "there are limits" to how desalination can be done so that it does not affect the environment. 9Current use of fossil fuels 10The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (or SWCC) is a government company that operates desalination and power plants in Saudi Arabia. The company says it produces 11.5 million cubic meters each day at 30 centers. But growth has come at a cost, especially at centers that use oil or gas. 11The AFP press agency reports that, by 2010, Saudi desalination plants were using 1.5 million barrels of oil per day. That is more than 15 percent of today's production. 12The SWCC said it wants to cut 37 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2025. The company hopes to do this by moving away from plants that use heat to separate water from salt to plants like Jazlah that use solar electricity-powered systems. 13The SWCC said in its latest report that solar power is expected to expand to 770 megawatts compared to 120 megawatts today. But how long that will take is unclear. 14In the future, there is little doubt Saudi Arabia will be able to build the systems required to produce the water it needs. 15"They have already done it in some of the most challenging settings, like massively desalinating on the Red Sea and providing desalinated water up to the highlands of the holy cities in Mecca and Medina," said Laurent Lambert. He is with the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. 16At desalination plants across the kingdom, Saudi employees understand how important their work is. 17The Ras Al-Khair center produces 1.1 million cubic meters of water per day with 740,000 from heat technology and the rest from another process. The plant struggles to make enough fresh water because of high demand. 18Much of the water goes to Riyadh. That city requires 1.6 million cubic meters per day. It could require as much as 6 million cubic meters a day by 2030, said one employee who was not permitted to talk to the media and remains unidentified. 19A short history of Saudi desalination 20Saudi Arabia first turned to desalination more than 100 years ago. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, administrators used filtration machines for Muslim travelers observing the Hajj who had to deal with a lack of water and cholera. 21Drinking water has been a problem for Saudi Arabia since its founding in 1932. This led to geological studies that also helped identify the country's huge supplies of oil and gas. Leaders since have supervised the birth of the kingdom's modern desalination systems beginning in 1970. 22I'm Anna Matteo. 23Anna Matteo adapted this AFP story for VOA Learning English. 24_________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26desalination -n. the process of removing salt from saltwater to make drinkable water 27tourism -n. the industry of providing food and services for people who travel for pleasure 28net-zero emissions -expression the idea of having the release of carbon gasses balance the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere 29solar panel -n. a device that captures the sun's light and changes it into electrical current 30scale -n. the level or amount of something 31barrel -n. a measure used in the oil trade 32challenging -adj. difficult or hard to do 33filtration -n. the process of removing something from water or another substance, usually to purify it