Researchers and businesses finding solutions in water technology
The Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) is working to bridge the gap between industry leaders and researchers to discover what needs to be done to have proper water needs in the energy field.
In a meeting Wednesday, leaders from businesses such as Chobani, Intel, and J.R. Simplot met with researchers from Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to find solutions with what’s called the energy-water nexus.
“We’re going to have to think about doing more with less water or we’re going to have to find new sources of water,” said Travis McLing, energy-water lead, INL. “industries are becoming increasingly challenged in some of the regulatory objectives that are being set out there,”said McLing.
With the energy-water nexus, researchers and industry leaders are making sure they find a balance between the amount of water needed for energy sources. “The usual model for business and other linkage is no longer valid,” said McLing.According to researchers, energy sources are the number one users of water. These energy areas include biofules, food processing, pulp, paper & chemicals, as well as semi-conductor, computing, and high technology.
“You might have the greatest technology in the world and be able to clean the dirtiest water for the best use but if you can’t afford to do it then it doesn’t have any value in the marketplace,”said McLing.
Another challenge McLing says they face is funding, while there is some money allocated to research- more funds may be needed. To see this portion of the interview look in the related content section.
