Interconnection between renewable energy technologies and water treatment processes

The renewable-energy-based water-energy nexus is a promising approach that contributes to climate change mitigation. Increasing concerns on GHG emission and energy demand, policies have been implemented in many countries to make use of renewable energy as much as possible. Renewable energy technologies can be directly employed in desalination processes, including membrane-based (e.g., reverse osmosis (RO) and membrane distillation (MD)) and thermal-based (e.g., multistage flash distillation (MSF) and multieffect distillation (MED)) technologies. Although the production capacities of fossil-based desalination processes (RO, MD, and MED) are higher than those of renewable-energy-based desalination processes, most latter desalination processes have lower specific energy consumption than conventional processes, which may offer potential for the implementation of renewable energy sources. In addition to the direct application of renewable energy technology to desalination, biofuels can be produced by converting algal lipids obtained from the growth of algae, which are associated with wastewater bioremediation and nitrogen and phosphorus removal during wastewater treatment. Salinity gradient power can be harvested from brine originating from desalination plants and freshwater driven by pressure-retarded osmosis or reverse electrodialysis. This study provides an overview of these approaches and discusses their effectiveness. It not only offers insights into the potential of applying renewable energy technologies to various water treatment processes but also suggests future directions for scientists to further enhance the efficiency of renewable energy production processes for possible implementation.