Pasado, presente y futuro de la desalación en España

[EN] A summary of the evolution of desalination in Spain, in the worldwide context, spanning over half a century of history, follows. What started as a solution to resolve occasional water shortages in islands where natural surface and ground water resources were scarce, has gained more relevance wi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cabrera, E., Estrela, T., Lora, J.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/124721
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/124721
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Desalación
Nexo agua-energía
Sequía
Gestión de la demanda
Recuperación de costes
Desalination
Water-energy nexus
Drought
Demand Management
Cost recovery
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] A summary of the evolution of desalination in Spain, in the worldwide context, spanning over half a century of history, follows. What started as a solution to resolve occasional water shortages in islands where natural surface and ground water resources were scarce, has gained more relevance with technological advancements, less expensive production costs and, at the same time, minimizing the impact on the environment. But fifteen years ago, the normal pace of history underwent an about-turn with the sudden construction of a significant number of desalination plants. The speed and, on occasions, the haste involved in many of the decisions, brought about some imbalance between the different players that were involved. Time, and above all, technological maturity have clarified the situation, and most of the desalination plants that were built have managed to find their place, thus justifying the investment that was made. But there are still some stages to address, particularly that of integrating these plants in the joint water resource operation systems. In this regard, consumers must accept that desalination plants competing with traditional water resources, greatly improve the guarantee of supply, and in fact act as a new water insurance that, indeed, has a cost. Today however, and particularly in the future, desalination in Spain plays and will continue to play an essential role, especially in the southeast Mediterranean region and in some of the more touristic islands.