More government support, including subsidies and a favorable pricing mechanism, is neededfor the country to use desalinated seawater to quench its thirst, a top industry expert said. "The lack of an effective pricing mechanism for desalinated water and support for an operablepolicy is affecting the development of the country's sea desalination industry," said Li Linmei,director of the State Oceanic Administration's Institute of Seawater Desalination andMultipurpose Utilization in Tianjin. The country aims to produce 2.2 million cubic meters of desalinated seawater daily in 2015,about three times current capacity, according to a National Development and ReformCommission plan released last year. Current domestic water prices range from 2.4 yuan to 4.9 yuan a metric ton in the coastalregions, while the price of water for industry ranges from 3.3 yuan to 7.9 yuan a ton, accordingto ChinaWaterNet. However, desalination plants can produce 674,000 tons daily at a cost of about 5 yuan ($0.80)a ton - not including infrastructure such as pipelines. Li said the government should consider bringing desalinated water into the water grid. Aside from subsidies and funding for pilot programs, Li believes desalination is a key part ofwater security. "The seawater desalination industry is as important as water conservancy projects for China tocope with its water shortage," Li said. China suffers from severe water shortages, nearly 54 billion cubic meters on average everyyear. This means that more than 66 percent of cities experience water shortages. To compound that difficulty, water consumption is expected to surge to about 700 billion cubicmeters in 2030, up from 600 billion cubic meters. Facing such a severe shortage, authorities are taking measures. In March, the NDRC identified the regions and companies selected to carry out the firstdesalination projects, including heavily populated areas such as Zhejiang and Hebei provinces,and the municipalities of Shenzhen and Tianjin. The commission asked regions and companies to encourage desalinated water use forindustrial and domestic purposes. The industry is expected to get a 10-billion-yuan boost from the plan. Li said the policy showed the country's determination and confidence in boosting the industry. Key technology Reverse osmosis technology and other areas of development vital for desalination have beenmastered, Li said. Osmosis technology pushes water under high pressure through fine membranes, filtering thesalt. Coupled with the distilling process of high-pressure steam and evaporators, this means that thetechnology is, in more ways than one, on tap. The country has 16 seawater desalination plants with a daily capacity of more than 10,000metric tons of fresh water, according to the NDRC. "Although we have made great progress in technology, large-scale plants in China still dependon foreign technology," Li said. Desalination is used in more than 150 countries to supply water to more than 200 millionpeople. The Tianjin Institute of Seawater Desalination and Multipurpose Utilization is strengtheninginternational cooperation to raise China's domestic seawater desalination technology and boostexports, Li said. There are concerns about the potential environmental effects of large-scale seawaterdesalination plants, especially wastewater discharges. Li said the government should launch an environmental assessment before any major upgrade.
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盡管中國(guó)已將海水淡化視為解決沿海未來淡水資源短缺的措施之一,但是業(yè)內(nèi)專家認(rèn)為,淡化水的廣泛應(yīng)用仍存在一定難度。 國(guó)家海洋局天津海水淡化與綜合利用研究所所長(zhǎng)李琳梅在接受本報(bào)專訪時(shí)指出,“尚未形成有效淡化水價(jià)格機(jī)制以及缺乏具體可操作的優(yōu)惠政策在一定程度上影響了中國(guó)海水淡化產(chǎn)業(yè)的發(fā)展?!?/p> 相關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)顯示,我國(guó)海水淡化裝機(jī)能力為67.4m3/d,海水淡化水綜合成本價(jià)格約為5元/噸左右。 中國(guó)水網(wǎng)顯示目前我國(guó)沿海居民生活用水價(jià)格介于為2.4元/噸~4.9元/噸;工業(yè)用水價(jià)格3.3元/噸~7.85元/噸。與自來水相比,淡化水顯然沒有價(jià)格優(yōu)勢(shì)。 李琳梅提出,為了促進(jìn)中國(guó)海水淡化產(chǎn)業(yè)的發(fā)展,國(guó)家首先要將海水淡化水視為保障國(guó)家水資源安全的重要組成,將淡化水納入國(guó)家水資源配置體系和區(qū)域水資源規(guī)劃。同時(shí),政府應(yīng)為公益性海水淡化工程提供補(bǔ)貼。 根據(jù)去年國(guó)家發(fā)展改革委員會(huì)發(fā)布的《海水淡化產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展“十二五”規(guī)劃》,到2015年,海水淡化產(chǎn)能規(guī)模將達(dá)到220萬立方米/日以上,約為目前產(chǎn)能的3倍。 該規(guī)劃還提出,到2015年,海水淡化對(duì)解決海島新增供水量的貢獻(xiàn)率達(dá)到50%以上,對(duì)沿海缺水地區(qū)新增工業(yè)供水量的貢獻(xiàn)率達(dá)到15%以上。 李琳梅指出,目前中國(guó)海水淡化技術(shù)發(fā)展已基本成熟,但其市場(chǎng)的培育和發(fā)展需要實(shí)質(zhì)性的產(chǎn)業(yè)政策支持。 她認(rèn)為國(guó)家財(cái)政應(yīng)設(shè)立專項(xiàng)資金,用于支持具有自主創(chuàng)新的海水淡化技術(shù)及其規(guī)?;痉兜脑圏c(diǎn)項(xiàng)目。 李琳梅說:“作為中國(guó)應(yīng)對(duì)水資源短缺的措施,海水淡化與水資源保護(hù)同等重要?!?/p> 根據(jù)水利部發(fā)布的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù),我國(guó)年平均缺水量接近540億立方米,66%以上的城市受到水資源短缺的困擾。 水資源缺口仍在不斷擴(kuò)大。到2030年,年水資源消耗量將由目前的600億立方米增至7000億立方米。 面對(duì)如此嚴(yán)峻的水資源短缺,國(guó)家開始采取措施以推動(dòng)海水淡化產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展。 三月份,國(guó)家發(fā)改委公布了第一批海水淡化工程試點(diǎn)區(qū)域和企業(yè),浙江、河北、深圳和天津均榜上有名。 發(fā)改委要求試點(diǎn)區(qū)域和企業(yè)積極促進(jìn)將淡化水應(yīng)用于工業(yè)和住宅。 國(guó)家發(fā)改委預(yù)計(jì),海水淡化設(shè)備的快速發(fā)展將使該行業(yè)年均增長(zhǎng)達(dá)10億元。 李琳梅說,這些政策初步顯示了國(guó)家推動(dòng)海水淡化產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展的決心和信心。 中國(guó)海水淡化技術(shù) 李琳梅說,經(jīng)過50多年的研究,我國(guó)已經(jīng)掌握了反滲透海水淡化技術(shù)和低溫多效蒸餾海水淡化技術(shù)。 反滲透技術(shù)利用高壓推動(dòng)水通過膜分離出鹽,而低溫多效蒸餾則由多級(jí)組成,通過利用低壓蒸汽以產(chǎn)生高純水。 國(guó)家發(fā)改委表示,2012年我國(guó)產(chǎn)水量高于10000立方米/天的海水淡化工程有16個(gè)。 “盡管我們?cè)诤K夹g(shù)領(lǐng)域已經(jīng)取得了長(zhǎng)足的進(jìn)步,但目前國(guó)內(nèi)大型海水淡化工程仍主要使用國(guó)外技術(shù)?!崩盍彰愤@樣表示。將國(guó)產(chǎn)海水淡化技術(shù)應(yīng)用于工程實(shí)踐,是提高我國(guó)海水淡化自主創(chuàng)新能力的關(guān)鍵。 至2010年,海水淡化工程已被應(yīng)用于世界上150多個(gè)國(guó)家,解決了2億多人的飲水問題。 李琳梅說,目前淡化所正積極開展國(guó)際合作,以提升我國(guó)自主海水淡化技術(shù)在國(guó)際市場(chǎng)中的地位,促進(jìn)國(guó)產(chǎn)淡化設(shè)備大規(guī)模向國(guó)外輸出。 面對(duì)迅速發(fā)展的中國(guó)海水淡化產(chǎn)業(yè),也有人對(duì)大規(guī)模海水淡化工程的潛在環(huán)境影響表示擔(dān)憂。因?yàn)闈夂K欧趴赡軙?huì)影響臨海水域的水質(zhì),引起受納海域鹽度、溫度的升高。 李琳梅表示政府應(yīng)對(duì)高鹽度濃海水的排放進(jìn)行環(huán)境影響評(píng)估,并提供排放標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)記者 王茜 本文為編譯,原文刊登于5月6日版《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》) |
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