The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $75 million in the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) to further desalination research.

With water becoming an increasingly value—and potentially scarce—commodity, desalination is seen by many as a way to address future water needs. Unfortunately, the current process is expensive and not very efficient. The DOE is committed to lowering the cost and technical barriers, making desalination a valid option in the future.

To achieve that goal, the DOE is funding $75 million over five years for the NAWI’s research, the NAWI being the DOE’s desalination innovation hub.

“Water and energy are interdependent—water is used to produce nearly every major energy source, and energy is critical to transporting and treating water,” said Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “The deep connection between these two resources demands an integrated approach that considers the challenges and opportunities inherent to both sectors. The Department of Energy is proud to be leading the nation’s efforts to decarbonize the water economy, while ensuring a secure water future for communities nationwide.”

The DOE cites population growth, climate change, and growing agriculture and industrial demands as the driving forces behind the need for cost-effective and energy-efficient desalination technology.

In its first five years, NAWI funded more than 60 projects, including pilots, projects across the United States focusing on a combination of water treatment, desalination unit processes, novel automation and water treatment, desalination processes, and modeling tools and analysis. This included projects from early-stage research through pilot scale. Additionally, the hub published the NAWI Master Roadmap and five sector-specific roadmaps (power, resource extraction, industry, municipal, and agriculture) as they relate to key technical challenges and research priorities in desalination and treatment of nontraditional source waters. power, resource extraction, industry, municipal, and agriculture) as they relate to key technical challenges and research priorities in desalination and treatment of nontraditional source waters.

NAWI is led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.