Novel metal-organic frameworks could support commercially efficient water harvesting from air – even in low-humidity desert regions.
Imagine if there was an off-grid system that could produce 300,000 to 500,000 litres of water per day, in the desert, sourcing it only from the air,” says Magnus Bach, VP of business development at technology company Atoco. “That would be pretty amazing.”
Aptly, Bach is outlining Atoco’s vision from the company’s offices in Dubai, UAE – one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, which also has one of the highest rates of consumption per capita. The company, according to Bach, is closing in on making its dream a reality. This summer, it plans to deploy 3m prototypes of its atmospheric water-harvesting technology in south-western US and the Middle East during a second testing phase, initially producing hundreds of litres of water daily from both on and off-grid machines.
Atmospheric water harvesting is not a new concept. Compressor-based generators...