Title：海水的利用
大致内容：
关于如何应对地中海地区缺水的情况，讲一个利用地壳的热能供水的project,如何利用海水，利用地热方法提取海水，得到饮用水，以及这个方法带来的其它的好处.境空的内容有mineralextraction,crust，grid, operatingcost;是非无判断:NG(上一个工程的失败可以避免)F(当地人一开始很支持这个project) T(这个机构还用了一些别的措施来帮助当地人)NC.(local audnrities campaigned against theproject)
雅思时事阅读：中国水问题的希望——海水淡化
More government support, including subsidies and a favorable pricingmechanism, is neededfor the country to use desalinated seawater to quench itsthirst, a top industry expert said.
"The lack of an effective pricing mechanism for desalinated water andsupport for an operablepolicy is affecting the development of the country's seadesalination industry," said Li Linmei,director of the State OceanicAdministration's Institute of Seawater Desalination andMultipurpose Utilizationin Tianjin.
The country aims to produce 2.2 million cubic meters of desalinatedseawater daily in 2015,about three times current capacity, according to aNational Development and ReformCommission plan released last year.
Current domestic water prices range from 2.4 yuan to 4.9 yuan a metric tonin the coastalregions, while the price of water for industry ranges from 3.3yuan to 7.9 yuan a ton, accordingto ChinaWaterNet.
However, desalination plants can produce 674,000 tons daily at a cost ofabout 5 yuan ($0.80)a ton - not including infrastructure such as pipelines.
Li said the government should consider bringing desalinated water into thewater grid.
Aside from subsidies and funding for pilot programs, Li believesdesalination is a key part ofwater security.
"The seawater desalination industry is as important as water conservancyprojects for China tocope with its water shortage," Li said.
China suffers from severe water shortages, nearly 54 billion cubic meterson average everyyear. This means that more than 66 percent of cities experiencewater shortages.
To compound that difficulty, water consumption is expected to surge toabout 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 carryout the firstdesalination projects, including heavily populated areas such asZhejiang and Hebei provinces,and the municipalities of Shenzhen and Tianjin.
The commission asked regions and companies to encourage desalinated wateruse 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 inboosting the industry.
Key technology
Reverse osmosis technology and other areas of development vital fordesalination 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 ofmore than 10,000metric tons of fresh water, according to the NDRC.
"Although we have made great progress in technology, large-scale plants inChina still dependon foreign technology," Li said.
Desalination is used in more than 150 countries to supply water to morethan 200 millionpeople.
The Tianjin Institute of Seawater Desalination and Multipurpose Utilizationis strengtheninginternational cooperation to raise China's domestic seawaterdesalination technology and boostexports, Li said.
There are concerns about the potential environmental effects of large-scaleseawaterdesalination plants, especially wastewater discharges.
Li said the government should launch an environmental assessment before anymajor upgrade.
尽管中国已将海水淡化视为解决沿海未来淡水资源短缺的措施之一，但是业内专家认为，淡化水的广泛应用仍存在一定难度。
