The largest desalination company in the world is close to reducing its carbon emissions by 60 percent, according to its governor.
Abdullah Al Abdulkarim, head of the Saudi government-run Saline Water Conversion Corporation, told delegates at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh that his organization wanted to go further.
He issued a call for innovators across the world to come forward with ways to reduce the power needed to extract minerals from water.
The Saline Water Conversion Corporation runs 32 plants in 17 locations, and last April was recognized by the Guinness World Records for setting a global record in reducing energy consumption in water desalination to 2.271 kWh per cubic meter.
Speaking on Thursday, Al Abdulkarim set out the work the corporation had already done, saying: “With this mission we are focusing to reduce our carbon footprint, and they can congratulate our Vision2030 because we are just about to reduce 60 percent of our carbon emissions, by reducing 34 million tons a year from this emission.
“Yet we are in the near future we will see carbon neutrality from our industry, reducing the power consumption as one of our missions, and you know for sustainability, the key pillar for sustainability is innovation.”
Appealing to the best and brightest in the sector, he added: “We stand here looking for innovators worldwide to collaborate, looking for investors, looking for manufacturers, and we have all the doors open to collaborate getting the best to build a much more better world by reducing the power where we need to produce minerals and having again accessible, abundant and affordable source of minerals.”