-Province to give more than $500,000 in funding to company for project-
OSOYOOS TIMES-April 8, 2009-
By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times
A British Columbia company that is developing a water desalination process that uses solar power to help make saltwater potable is looking to set up a test facility in the Osoyoos area.
According to a letter sent to the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) in December, 2008, Saltworks Technologies Inc. has a patent pending and proof tested solar desalination process that reduces electricity requirements to extract freshwater from saltwater by up to 80 per cent.rnAccording to a provincial media release, the company's plan to use solar-chemical energy for the desalination process would save enough energy to power 21,000 homes for a year.
Even though Osoyoos is several hours from the ocean, the company says the climate here represents some of their eventual target markets” hot, dry places.rnThe desalination market is expected to grow to a roughly $56 billion industry by 2015, the company said, and energy efficiency remains the sector's greatest challenge and Saltworks' technology has the potential to cut the cost of product water in half while achieving significant carbon emissions savings.rnThe company said in the letter that it wants to develop a small solar rig and transportable test facility in the area and begin testing its technology this summer.
No hazardous materials will be employed or discharged and Saltworks will bring its own supply of sea salt, the letter reads. As with any desalination plant, a higher salt output is produced.
Saltworks will not discharge this output on-site, instead they will recycle it into 'input' seawater and upon decommissioning, evaporate the output and collect the salt.rnThe company also said it plans to present its technology at global conferences and tradeshows this fall.
On April 3 it was announced that the company would receive $503,910 from the province's Innovative Clean Energy Fund.
The investment was part of an announcement that the province will be putting more than $32.6 million into an effort to commercialize British Columbia's clean, alternative energy technologies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create about 1,200 jobs in over 30 B.C. communities.rnAccording to a government media release, the desalination project here will have a value of more than $1.5 million.
The project will include 20 on-going jobs and be carried out over three phases.
The RDOS voted in January to support the company's project here.
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