The Global Solar Council (GSC) and the International Desalination Association (IDA) announce they have signed an agreement to promote desalination technologies powered by solar power.
The agreement, signed at the 2017 IDA World Congress in São Paulo, Brazil, aims to accelerate the potential for cost reductions and innovative solar energy solutions to desalination by sharing best practices and technological developments, leveraging synergies to further develop the solar and desalination markets focusing primarily on emerging markets.
Desalination technologies can improve the quality of life for people around the world including remote areas and are developing rapidly, offering a key solution for water supply in coastal areas and beyond. Given the emphasis on reducing desalination costs and environmental impacts, solar power can be the right way to solve the problem as a decisive tool to address power needs, sustainable development goals and climate change.
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“Desalination provides the world’s only new source of fresh water for the world’s growing population and economies. The use of solar energy to power desalination is a major step forward in our industry’s quest to reduce cost and lower energy consumption. The agreement with the Global Solar Council represents an important step forward in achieving this goal,” said Emilio Gabbrielli, President of International Desalination Association, 2015-2017 term.
“Today, the water cycle absorbs 4% of the total electricity produced in the world, and this number is expected to double in a few decades. Solar photovoltaic, being locally produced, is the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable source of energy, and will be the best to support water availability at low costs also in the most remote and poor areas. The cooperation with IDA will be strategic for this to happen,” said Gianni Chianetta, Co-Chairman of Global Solar Council and Vice President for International Affairs at Italian association Italia Solare.
Through the agreement, the two non-profit organizations will share mutual interests, experiences and information. In particular, they will collaborate on the development, testing and demonstration of advanced and innovative energy-efficient seawater desalination technologies that can be powered by solar as a way of reducing environmental impacts.
In this way, IDA and GSC will work in co-operation, including through capacity building joint events, advocacy and awareness campaigns to enlarge their global network of stakeholders, towards the mutual goals of sustainability, energy efficiency and technology transfer, excellence in operation, economic development and environment friendly technologies.
About IDA
The International Desalination Association (www.idadesal.org) is a non-profit association that serves more than 2,600 core members in 60 countries and reaches an additional 4,000 affiliate members. Its membership comprises scientists, end-users, engineers, consultants and researchers from governments, corporations and academia. IDA is associated with the United Nations as part of a growing international network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
About the Global Solar Council
The Global Solar Council is a non-profit organization founded in 2015 to coordinate the international advocacy efforts of the world’s solar energy associations. It represents national and regional solar associations from both established and emerging markets, including the world’s largest markets of Australia, China, Europe, India and other Asian countries, Middle East, South America and the United States. Through these associations the Global Solar Council represents over 2000 companies active across the entire solar value chain. GSC’s vision is to ensure that solar energy is the leading contributor to the world’s energy system, by aiming to create 10 million solar jobs by 2030. GSC’s mission is to encourage the rapid and wide-scale adoption of solar energy through cooperation, education and training.
