I found an interesting publication over the long weekend that...

I found an interesting publication over the long weekend that was written in 2017 (published 2019) about the hypersaline output from desalination plants. The authors claim that they too are able to transfer the hypersaline solution to freshwater and NaOH (sodium hydroxide). I could not find any evidence that their research was being commercialised, but the publication outlined the operational benefits, economics, and implications of such an operation - concluding ofcourse that extracting NaOH is a highly desirable outcome. Interestingly Desal plants require a large quantity of Sodium Hydroxide to operate, which I didn't know. Worth a read for those interested in the desalination side of things.

The publication is titled "Direct electrosynthesis of sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid from brine streams". There may be a pay wall, if anyone is interested and can't get access I can screenshot the article pages and post. Let me know.

"My take": Desalination is on the rise and there are two major problems preventing further growth - energy consumption and brine output. Renewable energy will proliferate over the next decade and eliminate one of these two problems, making way for a further rise in desalination projects. Approval of future desalination projects will be determined by their ability to process their brine streams.

currently 140 million cubic metres of brine produced daily from desalination.