"Twelfth Five-Year Plan" desalination will develop rapidly

Abstract: The General Office of the State Council recently released the "Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Desalination Industry" (referred to as "Opinions"), which mentioned that "by 2015, China's desalination capacity will reach 2.2-2.6 million cubic meters per day". That is a substantial increase of about 4 times compared to the end of 2011. A number of water conservancy and environmental protection experts told the “Economic Information Daily” reporter that at present, in coastal areas, especially in the Bohai Rim area where seawater self-purification capacity is poor, some desalinization projects still adopt the salt-water discharge model, which has a potential impact on the marine ecology. Can not be ignored.

In terms of environmental protection, the Opinions emphasize the research and formulation of laws and regulations related to seawater desalination, and guide and standardize the development of seawater desalination industry in terms of resource development, environmental protection, security supply, and industrial development. Strictly enforce environmental protection laws and regulations and standards, carry out environmental impact assessments on water discharge and brine discharge according to law, and strengthen supervision of pollutant discharges to ensure the coordinated development of seawater desalination industry and ecological environment.

Desalination is the extraction of fresh water from seawater and the use of concentrated seawater resulting from the desalination of seawater for salt production and extraction of potassium, bromine, magnesium and other elements. Desalinated water can be used in many aspects such as production, living, and ecology. It is currently used mainly in industrial and living areas. In industry, it is mainly used for boiler make-up water and production process water, such as electric power, metallurgy, chemical industry and other industries have large-scale applications; in the field of life, it is mainly used for drinking water in coastal areas and islands, etc., as an important supplement to municipal water supply. .

The Opinions emphasize that by 2015, the contribution rate to the new water supply of the island will reach more than 50%, and the contribution rate to the newly added industrial water supply in the coastal water-scarce areas will exceed 15%; the independent innovation rate for seawater desalination raw materials and equipment manufacturing More than 70%; to establish a more perfect desalination industry chain, key technology, equipment, materials, research and development and manufacturing capabilities have reached the international advanced level.

According to relevant persons from the National Development and Reform Commission, per capita freshwater resources in China account for about 2,100 cubic meters, which is only 28% of the world's average level. At present, there are about 2/3 of water shortages in the cities, and about 1/4 of them are seriously deprived of water; with industrialization As the process continues to accelerate, the situation of water shortage will become more severe.

“Desalination is one of the important measures to alleviate the water shortage situation and is an important part of strategic emerging industries. At present, desalination solves the problem of drinking water for more than 200 million people worldwide. Desalination water has become an important source of water for the Gulf countries. The person said, "The seawater desalination industry has the conditions and basis for comprehensive and rapid development."

Zeng Guoling, chief engineer of the Institute of Seawater Desalination and Comprehensive Utilization of the State Oceanic Administration of Tianjin, who had participated in the demonstration work of experts in the formulation of opinions, said in an interview that during the “11th Five-Year Plan” period, the production capacity of seawater desalination was basically concentrated in the Bohai Rim region; During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, almost all coastal provinces will spread to the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea and other sea areas. "But even at the end of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the daily processing capacity of seawater desalination can only reach 1/30 of the total global capacity. Is not commensurate with China's status as a big power."