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Desalination is a costly but effective way of generating water resources for the growing water demands of Beijing and is a long term solution that once implemented can be used far into the future especially if powered by renewable resources. 

How we intend to make the point:

Using China's experimental desalinization project located in Caofeidian we intend to produce a case study of the potential for current infrastructure development in desalination in addition to evaluating the potential future for research and development in improving the efficiency and carbon neutral potential of desalination in Beijing.  

Case study: 

•Desalination in Caofeidian

Caofeidian is a quickly developing land reclamation project located in Tangshan city in the Hebei Province. Caofeidian is an industrial port but in the near future the city will be expanded to create an eco-city based on sustainability and renewable energy. Of particular interest the desalinization project, developed by the private company Aqualyng, which started construction in March of 2010 and completed the first phase of construction only 18 months later. The plant can currently produce approximately 50,000 cubic meters of water which is currently used by the industrial section of Caofeidian. Due to Tangshan's close vicinity to Beijing (about 200 km) a pipeline could be constructed to pipe desalinated water from Caofeidian to the city of Beijing. With the plant's current capacity this would not be economically  feasible but with future expansions the plant could have the required capacity to transfer water to Beijing. Over the next three to five years, the expansion project aims to raise the capacity to over 1 million cubic meters and to construct a system to transport that water to Beijing. The total cost of the project is expected to total close to 2.2 billion dollars, 1.43 billion for the desalination plant and .76 for the transportation to Beijing. The power for the desalination plant is provided by the Huarun Power Plant which uses coal as its primary fuel, making it unsustainable. With nearby coal mines being depleted the future renewable resources development for Caofeidian's eco-city may provide an alternative. 

The future development for Caofeidian has been delegated to a private company named Sweco. By the year 2015 the city is expected to cover an area of 12 square kilometers and contain 160,000 residents. Caofeidian is expected to become one of China's largest ports and most important industrial centers while at the same time, showcasing the value of developing a sustainable city. They plan to create a closed loop system for water resources, energy production, and waste disposal. To create a sustainable waste production and disposal system the city plans to develop a strong recycling program, encourage conservation, and use waste to energy processes such as biogasification. In regards to energy production the city plans to create renewable energy using extensive wind power, solar power, bioenergy systems, and deep sea cooling systems. The most important aspect of Caofeidian's eco-city from the perspective of Beijing is its water conservation system. Using waste water treatment systems the city will be able to recycle the majority of its water and can create a sustainable water use loop to limit the demand on the desalinization plant. The water produced in the near future will cost approximately 5.5 RMB/m³ which is not a significant increase compared to current prices. The price of 5.5 RMB/m³ is only for Caofeidian and does not include the transportation costs required to move the water to Beijing. While estimates vary, the final cost that Beijing citizens would have to pay is about 7 RMB/m³. 

We believe that the best course of action would be to continue the development of desalination in the industrial section of Caofedian. The experimental phase of the project has already been completed and future capacity expansion has already been planned for the upcoming 3-5 years. The key piece of the project we are advocating for is the construction of the pipeline to transport the water to Beijing. Even though the construction of the pipeline has not been made official, interest from Beijing stakeholders makes the completion of this project highly probable. While the plant is located in Caofeidian it is equally, if not more, important to the city of Beijing. For this reason the first phase of the project was funded 25% by Beijing Enterprise Water (BEW) and 75% by Beijing Enterprise Group. To ensure the future success of the desalination project in Caofeidian BEW bought the controlling stake in Aqualyng, the company hired to develop the project. Despite the fact that the final price of the water produced will be relatively high, the value of creating a brand new source of water for the city of Beijing makes the expansion of desalinization a feasible solution.  

http://www.chemeng.lth.se/vvan01/Arkiv/2012-02-14_Caofeidian_Eco-City.pdf

http://www.globalwaterintel.com/archive/8/5/general/green-desal-in-china-to-become-a-reality.html

http://www.aqualyng.com/en/MediaCentre/NewsDetail/11-11-22/Successful_Pre_Commissioning_Ceremony_for_50_000m3_Caofeidian_project.aspx

http://www.nomuranow.com/research/globalresearchportal/GetPub.aspx?pid=482653