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Elon Musk desalination plan is a joke: Jatam
Head of Jatam's legal division Muhammad Jamil said that the construction of more solar power plants that would provide energy for desalination plants, as proposed by Musk, would require materials that come from new mining operations, mostly opened in the world's virgin forests.
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Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of Twitter, gestures as he attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris on June 16, 2023. (Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes)
E
nvironmental group Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) has criticized Space-X founder Elon Musk's proposal for solving the world's water crisis through desalination powered by solar energy, saying that the plan would only lead to more intensive mining activities.
Head of Jatam's legal division Muhammad Jamil said that the construction of more solar power plants that would provide energy for desalination plants, as proposed by Musk, would require materials that come from new mining operations, mostly opened in the world's virgin forests.
"I believe Elon Musk is joking [...]," Jamil was quoted by Tempo, adding that solar power was also the third most expensive method after diesel and gas generated power.
In his speech at the World Water Forum (WWF) in Bali earlier this week, Musk said the process of making seawater drinkable had become cheaper.
Musk added that a solar-powered desalination process could pave the way for a more sustainable solution to the water crisis.
The costs of solar power alongside its batteries to store the energy had dropped significantly over the years, Musk told the forum.
Environmentalists have warned about the potential environmental impacts associated with solar power, which include land and habitat loss, excessive water use and the use of hazardous materials in manufacturing.
