Sitting in an apartment of a multi-storey building with central heating, water supply, electricity, telephone, it can be difficult to believe that there are many more places on Earth where there are problems with such a banal but very important thing like water. In fact, there is a real H2O crisis in the world, and scientists have long been racking their brains over how to solve it without allowing the situation to worsen. And now, one real way was found. Scientists from 95 countries took part in it.
The Water Abundance XPRIZE is a $ 1.75 million grant to be awarded to the creator of the water extraction device. To receive a prize, the created technology must meet a number of requirements, the most important of which are efficiency criteria. The device must be able to extract at least 2 thousand liters of water per day, and the cost of one extracted liter must not exceed 2 cents. The competition started back in 2016.
Most recently, this award was received by the WEDEW project, created by the Skysource / Skywater Alliance. The presented machine extracts water directly from the air, which is very convenient. For this, the device creates a sufficiently humid environment in which condensation begins to form. In theory, this technology should work anywhere on the planet. An important nuance is that the novelty does not need electricity at all. In fact, WEDEW repeats the natural process of cloud formation.
Of course, energy is still needed for WEDEW to work. And a very large number. However, it uses the principle of vaporization pyrolysis as an alternative to electricity, which condenses hot air. The new technology is to be field tested in the near future. If all goes well, then humanity may have at its disposal a powerful new tool for extracting resources from the environment.
Do you want to see even more high-profile and ambitious projects? Here five promising projects of the Soviet Union, in the development of which something went wrong to everyone's regret.