IEA SHC Solar Academy - Solar Energy in Industrial Water and Wastewater Management

This webinar in the IEA SHC Solar Academy webinar series introduced the work of IEA SHC Task 62 on solar energy in industrial water and wastewater management. Solar Heat for Industrial Processes has a huge potential with is still untapped. An important field of application of solar energy could be identified in the field of water treatment technologies. About 20% of the water utilization in the world is devoted to industrial use and is, therefore, an essential economic good. On the other hand, water is a scarce resource in many regions today while the disposal of waste streams comes along with destructive environmental impact. Theoretically, a 100 % solar ratio could be envisioned in solar heat supply for water treatment technologies, as it is common to work with large volumes and buffer storages in this sector allowing to some extent production capacity variation along with solar availability. It is thus important to find the most suitable and accurate information on the technical and economical possibilities for effectively applying solar thermal energy and solar radiation to disinfect, decontaminate and separate industrial process water and wastewater. Water shortages in specific regions worldwide as well the need for CO2 reduction and primary energy savings underline the importance of this research area and specific technological development will be required to develop techno-economic solutions. The webinar welcomed the following presentations: Christoph Brunner - Nexus Solar Energy-Water-Industry Isabel Oller - Towards industrial water footprint reduction via solar decontamination and disinfection advanced processes Sacha Sineux - Solar powered water reuse and resource recovery – focus: mining industry The webinar was moderated by Bärbel Epp of solrico - solar market research & international communication. Q/A Session: The 90-minute webinar included a 30 minutes Q/A session