Osmosis

While reverse osmosis is a relatively energy-efficient form of seawater desalination, it is nonetheless made less efficient by a problem known as biofouling. A new membrane coating, however, could address biofouling like never before.

"Hypersaline brine" is industrial waste-water with salt levels that exceed even that of seawater. It’s a big, expensive, destructive problem which a team of engineers at Columbia University in New York City hope to solve with their solvent-based method of desalination.

A new study conducted at MIT suggests that tweaking the size of a costly membrane could help make pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) much more competitive.

Researchers have created an experimental device that indicates boron nitride nanotubes provide an extremely efficient solution for converting the energy of salinity gradients into immediately usable electrical power.

IBM has teamed with Saudi's King Abdulaziz City For Science and Technology to develop a desalination plant energized by highly efficient solar power

A new approach to desalination, called ion concentration polarization, could lead to small, portable desalination units that could deliver enough fresh water to supply the needs of a family or small village.

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway officially opened Statkraft's osmotic power plant prototype on 24th November

The mini-mobile-modular (M3) “smart” water desalination and filtration system could help determine the feasibility of using available water as a source for a large-scale desalination plant.

Green energy comes in many guises these days, from wind-power to wave-power. One of the more compelling of the new kids on the eco-energy block is salinity power, which uses the concurrence of salt-water and freshwater in estuaries and marries it with the natural, effortless process of osmosis.