Comparison between LTTD and RO process of sea-water desalination: an integrated economic, environmental and ecological framework

Sea-water desalination has emerged as the key alternative to overcome demand–supply gap of potable water, worldwide. This paper aims to carry out a technology review of sea-water desalination, technologies in an integrated framework of economic, environmental and ecological analyses. The economic analysis here refers to a project/technology development effort analysis in the context of national economy. The cost per unit output from this perspective is the economic cost. In an environmental analysis, the higher specific energy consumption in a process vis-àvis the best technology option in the project area is measured in terms of certified emission reduction. In ecosystem analysis, the accent is to find out whether the technology disrupts the existing eco-system. Such a disturbance entails a huge ecological cost. The cost quantified per unit output is arrived at as the reduction in GDP in the project affected area due to the direct and indirect effects of adverse ecological effects; these effects are deduced using specifically developed I–O tables ‘with and without’ technology options, for the project area. The choice of technology is the one with the minimum composite cost per unit output. The composite cost in the context is the sum of economic cost, the environmental cost and the ecological cost per unit output. The framework is applied in the technology review of low-temperature thermal desalination process and its impact on project areas of Lakshadweep islands and Thoothukodi district vis-à-vis the alternative RO process of sea-water desalination technology.