Saudi entrepreneur suggests the Kingdom should invest in R&D to solve problem of water shortage
With 24 million cubic meters per day (m3/day) of production capacity, the desalination plants in the Arab world represent nearly 50 percent of the world's total desalination capacity. Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer of desalinated water in the Arab World. Jeddah, the commercial hub of the Kingdom, has been relying on seawater desalination for decades. Adil Bushnak, the Saudi entrepreneur who heads several companies active in water, environment and energy services, says the role of desalination as a major source of domestic water supply will greatly increase in Arab countries because of population growth, increasing urbanization, industrialization and depletion of non-renewable sources of water.
He agrees that desalination of seawater is a costly affair but asserts that it is the "only solution," especially on the coast, to meet the drinking water requirements. Even in places where ground water is available, it cannot be consumed directly because it is generally salty and contaminated. Brackish water desalination is required to treat it to be made consumable.
Speaking to Arab News, Bushnak made a case for smaller desalination units instead of massive plants that the governments in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have installed. He talked of new technologies being developed which are cheaper, compact and household-friendly,
According to him, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is working on chips to produce water. "You can put chips, maybe thousands, in a container. Put salty water from the top and take sweet water from the bottom," he said.
Arid countries such as Saudi Arabia, other Arab nations as well as Pakistan and India should invest on a priority basis in research and development to find a solution to the problem of water shortages, he said. Noting that people in remote areas do not have access to good, reliable sources of water, Bushnak said they should be given low-cost and simple solutions using solar energy because electricity is also scarce.
"We need something like television or mobile phones. There are so many technologies involved in these machines, but they work with the press of a button. The same can be done with desalination. It's a matter of time. The question is who will do it. I say this is our need; let's do it ourselves instead of waiting for others to take the lead," he said.
Bushnak was of the opinion that countries facing water shortages should invest in new technologies not only to solve their problems but also to make money out of it by exporting their products.
Bushnak, who heads major water-related companies such as Moya Bushnak, Water and Environment Services Co. (WESCO), Kindasa Water Services, and Al-Alamiah Water Works and Services (AWWS), called for local production of spare parts and components required in the water industry. He said as a Saudi supplier of desalinated water he still relies on foreign companies for pumps and pipes and other components.
He welcomed the launch in February this year of a SR1.3 billion Saudi-Japanese joint venture company to manufacture reverse osmosis membrane elements for seawater desalination. He said a similar attempt by his company in the past failed because the collaborating US company Du Pont decided to withdraw after two years of work, just before the factory was about to be built. He also welcomed the government's move to encourage investment in the manufacture of spare parts and components required in the water industry. Government departments such as the Ministries of Finance and Industry, King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Industrial Fund have developed strategies in this regard. They are more generous in offering incentives than before, he said, adding it needs to be faster and more integrated.
KACST recently announced plans to set up solar desalination plant which, after three years, will produce 30,000 mega watt using photovoltaic. "That to me is a big dream. I will be happy if it happens even in six years. But the best part is that a government department has set a dream. Earlier it was lacking," he said.
He advocated greater use of solar power for generating energy as well as producing water. "The abundance of sun is another gift of God Almighty to Saudi Arabia. This must be exploited for the maximum benefit of our people," he said.
On April 17 this year Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of the King Abdullah Nuclear and Renewable Energy City in Riyadh that will produce nuclear and renewable energies to generate electricity, produce desalinated water and reduce reliance on depleting hydrocarbon resources. Bushnak said this was a remarkable development. "Until recently, no government department was responsible for developing renewable energy. Twenty years ago, we set up our first solar plant, but only as research not as application. Now we are talking of application. It makes a big difference," he added. He said such developments were reflective of changes of perception on the part of the government "where the thinking was emerging that we could not continue as business as usual and that something more needed to be done."
Bushnak said while the budget allocation for research at universities was very good and generous, what was lacking was venture capital support. "Just developing something in the lab is not enough. It cannot become commercial automatically. You need someone, a company, a businessman, to take it and commercialize and sell it everywhere," he said, adding research without support for entrepreneurship is useless, other countries will benefit from it.
According to him, there is a gap between university research and market. The government has started bridging this gap by establishing techno-valleys in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam that are linked with the respective universities in these cities and have a budget of SR100 million each. Bushnak was of the view that these valleys should integrate the research done in their respective universities and "find investors like me to invest money in the project and commercialize it."
He said, "I am not interested in an exhibition like Ibtikar (which was organized in late May in Jeddah for Saudi innovators). There are so many ideas. You need to use a prototype, test it, prove it to the market and let the market invest in it. The United States is very strong in this. Countries like India have also started doing it. Learn from them. Give incentives to the entrepreneurs who are willing to take the risk."
Commenting on the growing concern over depleting sources of water, Bushnak said that in places like Riyadh, Qassim and several border areas there was enough ground water. "It is sufficient for hundreds of years if we stop wasting it on agriculture." He said stopping subsidies for wheat farming to save water was not enough. Farmers are still growing water-intensive fodder for animals. Practically, animals in Saudi Arabia are consuming more water than humans.
Saudi Arabia is known for some of the region's big dairy farms, exporting milk and other dairy products to neighboring countries. Bushnak saw no reason for these farms to operate in the Kingdom.
"Why should we have to feed 20 million animals? Why can't we import their feed from outside, or use seawater to produce fodder for them? Milk can also be imported. Every liter of milk takes 1,000 liters of water to produce. So, with every 1,000 liters of water, we are exporting just one liter of milk," he pointed out.
He said more than 40 percent of oil and gas production is being used just to produce water, electricity and fuels for cars and industries in Saudi Arabia. These utilities are heavily subsidized, which is benefiting only a handful of people, not the majority of Saudis who need them.
Bushnak was of the opinion that the government should reexamine the policy of subsidies. He said with the current pricing and subsidies on water and electricity, the poor pay much more while people in developed urban areas get water for 10 halalas, the poor pay up to SR6. The reason? Water is not delivered to them. He has to buy it. "Less than 50 percent of the population in Jeddah is connected to the network. Others buy it from truckers to survive," he added.
He said in villages ground water was not available everywhere. Where it is available, it is either floated or salty and thus not usable. They depend on treated water or trucked water which is very expensive. "Villagers survive with minimum water or no water if the truck fails to arrive. Safety and reliability of water is another issue. Besides that, it depends on a villager's luck how much he is made to pay as the price depends on the distance of his village from the place the water originates from."
By SHAHEEN NAZAR
© Arab News 2010
