The Warka Water Tower that captures water from humid air is one of the quiet successes of the engineering for sustainability movement in international development. E4C's Solutions Library captures this and hundreds more. Here we share some of the surprising sustainable technologies that are improving economies and the quality of life in underserved communities worldwide.
What is the criteria for “success” here. The first two items in this list have both previously earned themselves “Debunk” pages at Natural Innovation.
The Warka tower – appears to have only ever had one built, debunked in 2021 and doesn’t appear to have moved in the slightest since then – it still surfaces because the images are cool, but AFAIK the developers haven’t responded to any reach outs for years. https://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=3425
And air to water …. why has this been hyped for decades, but almost never seen in the field? Could it doesn’t produce usable amounts of water in dry climates, and in humid climates there is almost always surface water which is far far cheaper to treat than to extract fresh from the air. Pitches from the “air-from-water-and-lots-of-energy” companies are almost all missing the water produced at different RH; the capital cost; and the energy required. https://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=3332
I didn’t review the rest of the items but wonder if any of them have had a more thorough level of investigation?
This week’s Big Design Question takes on the issue of cost versus environmental friendliness. The question is part of our weekly series that tests the design principles for creating appropriate...
What is the criteria for “success” here. The first two items in this list have both previously earned themselves “Debunk” pages at Natural Innovation.
The Warka tower – appears to have only ever had one built, debunked in 2021 and doesn’t appear to have moved in the slightest since then – it still surfaces because the images are cool, but AFAIK the developers haven’t responded to any reach outs for years. https://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=3425
And air to water …. why has this been hyped for decades, but almost never seen in the field? Could it doesn’t produce usable amounts of water in dry climates, and in humid climates there is almost always surface water which is far far cheaper to treat than to extract fresh from the air. Pitches from the “air-from-water-and-lots-of-energy” companies are almost all missing the water produced at different RH; the capital cost; and the energy required.
https://www.naturalinnovation.org/?id=3332
I didn’t review the rest of the items but wonder if any of them have had a more thorough level of investigation?