Osmotic power plants could be installed on every rive flowing into the ocean, according to the Norwegian government renewable energy company Statkraft. Energy Recovery (makers of the pressure exchanger that makes osmotic power economical) claims that existing desalination plants could retrofit osmotic power generators to greatly lower the cost of making fresh water from salt water, by recovering power from its output stream to the sea (which is twice as salty as sea water since the potable water had been removed). But using osmotic power on regular rivers, where they dump into the ocean, could cover half of Europe's electricity needs if all the available streams were included. I'm not sure of the cost of building these plants, but it sounds promising. What do you think? Join the conversation by clicking the link below to leave a comment.
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