Abu Dhabi firm proposes towing icebergs to the UAE for drinking water

[HannibalBarca]

Why?!? - Because I CAN!
Unlock Next Mission - Bring One Volcano...

Abdullah Mohammad Sulaiman Al Shehi said the plan could resolve the UAE’s water shortage

An Abu Dhabi firm has revealed plans to tow icebergs from Antarctica to the UAE in early 2018 to harvest for drinking water.

Gulf News cited Abdullah Mohammad Sulaiman Al Shehi, managing director of Masdar City-based creative consultancy National Advisor Bureau Limited, as confirming the firm had already the transportation route and variables through a simulator.


He told the publication the journey, estimated at 12,600km, would take a year and the company planned to begin the project in 2018.

“We want it mainly for the water. It could also be good for tourism and the weather,” Al Shehi was quoted as saying.

The official speculated that icebergs floating on the Arabian Sea would be a major draw for tourists and would serve as a major water source upon arrival in the UAE, where chunks would be cut off for storage in tanks.

Icebergs would also alter the local climate by releasing cold air, which would lead to rainstorms across the Arabian peninsula, he said.

No funding or cost structure for the project was disclosed, although he admitted there would be challenges shepherding ice bergs in rough seas.

Al Shehi is no stranger to elaborate plans to resolve the UAE’s water shortage.

In an interview last year, he hold The National of another study to build an underground pipeline from the Dasht river in Pakistan to Fujairah some 500km away.

http://gulfbusiness.com/abu-dhabi-firm-proposes-towing-icebergs-uae-drinking-water/

 

[monitor]

Why?!? - Because I CAN!
Unlock Next Mission - Bring One Volcano...

Abdullah Mohammad Sulaiman Al Shehi said the plan could resolve the UAE’s water shortage

An Abu Dhabi firm has revealed plans to tow icebergs from Antarctica to the UAE in early 2018 to harvest for drinking water.

Gulf News cited Abdullah Mohammad Sulaiman Al Shehi, managing director of Masdar City-based creative consultancy National Advisor Bureau Limited, as confirming the firm had already the transportation route and variables through a simulator.


He told the publication the journey, estimated at 12,600km, would take a year and the company planned to begin the project in 2018.

“We want it mainly for the water. It could also be good for tourism and the weather,” Al Shehi was quoted as saying.

The official speculated that icebergs floating on the Arabian Sea would be a major draw for tourists and would serve as a major water source upon arrival in the UAE, where chunks would be cut off for storage in tanks.

Icebergs would also alter the local climate by releasing cold air, which would lead to rainstorms across the Arabian peninsula, he said.

No funding or cost structure for the project was disclosed, although he admitted there would be challenges shepherding ice bergs in rough seas.

Al Shehi is no stranger to elaborate plans to resolve the UAE’s water shortage.

In an interview last year, he hold The National of another study to build an underground pipeline from the Dasht river in Pakistan to Fujairah some 500km away.

http://gulfbusiness.com/abu-dhabi-firm-proposes-towing-icebergs-uae-drinking-water/

Owe Abu Dhabi again going to make something out of box. I had read many years back Saudi too once wanted to bring ice bergs to solve water problem.

 

[Lagay Raho]

is towing ice bergs all the way to Dubai even possible?

 

[monitor]

Icebergs could meet region's fresh water supply needs
Icebergs could provide untapped quantities of pure water to satisfy the thirst of the Middle East by creating an alternative to desalination without the generation of air or marine pollution.

22:14 August 9, 2009

A Russian scientist believes icebergs could provide untapped quantities of pure water for the Middle East and thus create an environmentally friendly alternative to desalination.
Image CreditBloomberg News
By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter


Dubai: Icebergs could provide untapped quantities of pure water to satisfy the thirst of the Middle East by creating an alternative to desalination without the generation of air or marine pollution, according to Russian researchers. The researchers hope their project will provide a solution to water scarcity in the region.

Hamid Khalidov, a Russian scientist and his representative in the UAE, Kudret Efendiev, a doctor of physics working at Sharjah International School, have been promoting the theory of capturing 'alive water' from the North Pole for over a decade. So far the project, which would demand an investment of $2 billion (Dh7.34 billion), remains a theory.


However, Khalidov has outlined five methods of capturing water from icebergs. These include towing them from the North Pole, Alaska or Greenland to the coast of Saudi Arabia - where plants will be built to receive the mammoth chunks of ice.

Other methods include the extraction of liquid water on site, the transportation of fine pieces of ice or the transportation of large blocks of ice, cut out from the iceberg and which will weigh many tonnes.

The most feasible method involved transporting smaller, whole icebergs rather than bigger ones. This was outlined in a paper published in the Aqua Journal of Water Supply Services and Technology in 1998.


Khalidov said "an iceberg, six-sevenths of which remains submerged, and which floats 10 to 12 km a day, can overturn 5-6 times during its lifetime& After every overturning of an iceberg, each new installation of tow cables would require an unacceptable cost in time and labour to correct."

Around $2 billion would be required to complete the project in two years. Factors to consider include special boats, a special mooring facility and stationary ice-receivers. Containers and equipment for the project would also have to be manufactured.

The Antarctic ice sheet is one of the two polar ice caps of the Earth. It covers about 98 per cent of the Antarctic continent and is the largest single mass of ice on the planet. It covers an area of almost 14 million square kilometres and contains 30 million cubic kilometres of ice. That is, approximately 61 per cent of all fresh water on the Earth - an amount equivalent to 70 per cent of the volume of the world's oceans.

"The removal of one cubic kilometre of ice [from a shelf glacier in the Antarctic continent] is of little consequence - particularly if one considers the benefits to the life and health of millions of people," Khalidov said.

Mohammad Raouf, the programme manager for environment research at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, said he had heard of the idea.

However, he added that the environmental impact would outweigh the potential gain of accessing fresh water supplies.

"I think technically it is feasible. But if you take into account the costs and the environmental damage, it might not be. I believe it will remain one of the solutions - in case a real need emerges such as severe water shortage problem," he said.

The legal aspects of transporting ice would also be very complicated, he said.

"Ecologically, which is more important, if countries race to get this, we will cause another imbalanced situation in these locations. [The] cost is still very high at $2 billion without taking into consideration ecological costs and water loss costs [such as melting]," he said.

Have your say
Is this a feasible option? What sort of effect do you think this will have on the environment? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the comments form below.

 

[ashok321]

is towing ice bergs all the way to Dubai even possible?

Stability & melting point issue is the cause of concern.

 

[Hassan Guy]

Breaking news:

Somali pirates have hijacked an iceberg on its way to the UAE.

 

[HannibalBarca]

Breaking news:

Somali pirates have hijacked an iceberg on its way to the UAE.

Here your thanks... you did great today

Stability & melting point issue is the cause of concern.

Stability and melting not really a problem... Money + Vessels are...

 

[Fledgingwings]

I think it shall melt before reaching UAE.

 

[ashok321]

Here your thanks... you did great today


Stability and melting not really a problem... Money + Vessels are...

They have money + ships.
UAE has been putting many bold/weird ideas into action for the last decade.

 

[HannibalBarca]

I suggest relocating to Antarctica while we are at it. After all the Arab diaspora is one of the largest in the world and we are found almost everywhere but not sure about Antarctica but that could be a first. UAE likes being a first after all.

UAE is located on the world's largest peninsula (Arabian Peninsula) surrounded by water. GCC is already leading in terms of seawater desalination. A technology that will continuously improve further in the future (near as well as distant) and become cheaper. Not that UAE or the GCC lacks money.

What is the problem is the culture of wastefulness, including water resources. Lack of effective use of the existing rainfall in the region and in some areas of the GCC/Arabian Peninsula old and wasteful methods of agriculture.

As for climate changes this is a natural circle. Less than 8.000 years ago Arabia (and almost all of the Arab world) was one of the most fertile areas in the world and home to the third largest lake in the world. As per the words of scientists such a climate might return once again.

In any case what is already in place, should be more than enough to survive on and even more than that.

But wastefulness is the greatest enemy.

Silly ideas like this one and some unrealistic 500 km underground connection to Pakistan (itself a country facing problems in this regard (aridity), like all countries in the Middle East and this part of the world) would be idiotic. Not sure who this guy is or what his qualifications are or if this news is even accurate but it seems quite silly to put it mildly.

Well that for sure..towing an iceberg could be seen as wastefull... But we do not have the Eco/Biz plan of the project... who knows... could be less wastefull than Desalinisation... ANd you will earn quite a huge waterfall of money... Imagine an Iceberg in front of the Marina... in a Arab country... Well I think with only Tourism ,you will get 10x your investment back...+ potable water and so on...

Could be interesting if the price is right and doable... Tbh I will mostly go see it if that happen... just by curiosity...

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

I had read many years back Saudi too once wanted to bring ice bergs to solve water problem.

It's true, apparently they (Saudi Prince) wanted to make a lake somewhere.

Correction: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...ad0-936f-459956074a76/?utm_term=.1d10292c747d

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

There are already a few lakes in KSA and 1000's of wadis (non-permanent rivers).

Just what I read, i'll never say there aren't any lakes, Saudi isn't completely desert. Just that the water use is far larger than replenishment of reservoirs.

As expensive as the project would seem it'll be pretty cool.

 

[HannibalBarca]

There are already a few lakes in KSA and 1000's of wadis (non-permanent rivers).

Saudi Arabian hawks over Dumat Al-Jandal Lake in Al Jawf Province.

I don't believe it. A ridiculous idea IMO. If it was such a foreseeable and brilliant idea why have people not thought about doing it decades ago? Especially Sub-Saharan African nations such as Namibia for instance who are located not THAT far from Antarctica. Or Australia, or USA (California etc.)?

Anyway I don't like ice or cold weather so they better keep this to Antarctica.

Well ppl said the same about " possibility" when they were building the highest tower... Ski resort... Manmade Islands... and so on in UAE and around the globe...

The project of towing an iceberg is quitly doable and simple. Icebergs are big shunk of floating ice... it's towable... The problem , you need to find a way tow it safely and strongly... and you will need quite a time to get to UAE...

Why African countries didn't use that? Well it's simple... the same , of why they do not have desalinisation plants... it's MONEY.

 

[HannibalBarca]

I never said that it is impossible. It is very much possible and not that complicated. I just think that the idea sounds ridiculous and that it might not be worth the trouble. Especially if people talk about retaining the iceberg and make it a "tourist destination" as if people travelled to the UAE to look at ice bergs!

The ski resort is one single resort and that is a much less complex and better business IMO. However if 10 such "ski resorts" were built in the UAE I doubt that they could fill them.

Desalination plants are much more expensive than transporting ice bergs. Especially from Antarctica to Namibia (not too far away). Anyway I also mentioned Australia (which is not that far from Antarctica either) and USA (California). Nations would have done this ages ago. Especially after seeing a user her post a link to a Washington Post article from 1977 about the same topic! Yet 40 years after and nothing has happened! Allow me to be skeptical.

Also is it even legal for third parties to just "take" ice bergs from Antarctica? Is Antarctica not a protected area where drilling for resources etc. is completely banned other than scientific studies? I think so.

ofc you can be skeptical... We need to wait and see.

As for legal part, I was also thinking about it... but I think they will mostly take Icebergs already far from shore.
And UAE want to be seen as "Ahead" of others... so a move like that is doable, even tho' they can lose their investment... in The end it could be used as a show of power ( of some sort)

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

I just saw that your initial article is from 1977! What the hell man? Never seen a user post such an old link before.

The 1977 article was the first time such an idea was reported (granted by Prince Mohamed Al-Faisal probably why it was taken into consideration, he worked in the Water ministry around the time).

But the idea was never fully disregarded and has gotten some greater support.

I really want to see this happen.