The U.S. state of California has a new project to combat drought and climate change! They want to be involved in the production of much cleaner energy and saving water. How will they do it? Well, this might sound contradictory, but they want to include in the process of this production two natural elements: the sun and the water. You could be thinking that these elements don’t get along because of the evaporation process, but the U.S. state has everything planned.
Let’s dive into this new and curious project to make our world a much better place to live in.
Current crisis the world is facing
For years, every country has been facing many crises, but the most obvious ones are the energy and water crisis. As time goes by, we need more energy which makes pollution increase and, therefore, planet Earth is getting more damaged.
Also, water is being reduced in arid zones like California. Due to climate change, it rains less frequently than usual, and rivers get dry too.
What’s the main problem California wants to solve?
There is an important issue affecting the environment all around the world and many companies, which use energy coming from petrol, coil or polluting elements like these, are trying to incorporate new ways to manufacture and pollute the least possible.
This is what the U.S. state of California is doing. The solar and wind energy are the talk of the town now, which is what California is implementing. However, they have some limitations when it comes to places that have sunny weather because the heat of the sun makes water from rivers evaporate. This is a huge problem for farmers and potable water.
California’s green project
The U.S. state’s idea to be a greener – meaning more environmentally friendly – is to combine the sun and the water. How is this possible if we previously said the sun evaporates the water? They have come up with the solution of covering irrigation channels with solar panels, which transform this light coming from the sun into electricity.
Why California?
Among all the U.S. states, California was the one starting this project, but… why? Well, this state suffers a lot from drought events and water issues, so that’s why they are investing so much in renewable energies. This project is well thought out because they already have the channels built, so there’s no need to occupy more space.
The curious thing about this idea is the price since $19 million, $15 million of those go to investigation and technological development. Even though millions of dollars go into this project, it is not seen as a very expensive one because they will use solar energy without having to use new land.
This project used in other countries
At the moment, California is the pioneer and only place that is working on this green project. However, if this were implemented in more parts of the world, it would have a huge positive impact on the environment.
Some of the places this idea could be used would be countries where droughts are very frequent. In addition, irrigation channels in desert areas and countries that are investing in renewable energies like Spain, Chile or Brazil.
Can you imagine the change this would mean for us? We are always threatened by all the human actions that are damaging our planet, so the fact that some places like the U.S. state of California. What’s more, having in mind all the negative situations countries have to deal with, the price of the project is not that much in comparison. Let’s hope for the best for this project!