this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2025
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Why do it, then?
Is this a proof of concept/MVP build, so they can iterate more efficient versions? A vanity project? A mistake?
Because osmotic power has enormous potential in the sense that millions of cubic meters of fresh water is running into oceans all over the world every minute. If we're able to get even a low-efficiency method of using the salinity gradient to generate power working then every place a river meets the sea is essentially an unlimited (albeit low-yield) power source.
This is tech that doesn't rely on elevation (like hydropower) or weather conditions (like wind/solar) it's stable and in principle possible to set up at pretty much any river outlet, which is great!
Gotta be careful about ecosystems though. River deltas are incredibly important and fragile areas.
Dams 2.0
Oh absolutely. As with all other infrastructure, there is a cost to be paid. However, when you look at an average to small river, even routing 10 % of the water via an osmosis plant before passing it to the sea is an absolutely massive volume. There's also the point that you don't want to build these things in large, meandering, flat river deltas. You want a large salinity gradient, which means relatively small, fast-running fresh water meeting the ocean more "suddenly" than what you get in a classical river delta is the optimal source here.
Turning unpotable water into potable water with little or no additional cost, while not harming the environment, isn't exactly a loss.