The severe shortage of fresh water resources threatens the survival of hundreds of millions of civilians around the world. Recently, the Nanotechnology Water Treatment Center (NEWT) of Rice University in Texas, USA, stated that it has mastered the key steps to use solar energy to desalinate seawater, and made an important breakthrough in seawater desalination technology. The new research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. At present, there are about 18,000 desalination plants in 150 countries around the world, and almost without exception, the methods of evaporation, condensation, and capture are used to produce fresh water. Among its costs, energy accounts for more than 50%. This project is sponsored by Rice University Nanotechnology Water Division
