Sustainably integrating desalination with solar power to overcome future freshwater scarcity in China

Abstract Freshwater resources and energy are the two material foundations of human survival and the two challenges for human sustainable development. China’s huge population needs a large amount of freshwater for basic necessities. Desalination is an intelligent and promising technology for increasing water resources to realize a sustainable supply of freshwater. However, high levels of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have restricted the development of desalination. Solar energy has the unique advantage that it can be harnessed in different forms. This paper discusses the water resources and solar energy utilization status in China and presents a comprehensive review on a possible solution: coupling desalination technologies with sustainable energy. China’s desalination market is reviewed, and the energy consumption for several desalination processes is summarized to present a brief outlook of desalination techniques in China. Potential coupled methods for solar-powered desalination are compared. This study will facilitate understanding of the latent water crisis in China and help China’s desalination market transition from conventional energy sources to choose an appropriate solar-powered desalination process.