Just two years ago, a plan was birthed in the United Arab Emirates to provide the country with fresh drinking water.
But how does one go about doing such a task? Many might suggest a desalination water plant, in fact, why wouldn’t you do that?
Well, of course, that’s just too simple. Instead, some Emirati geniuses figured that they’ll drag an iceberg. Yes, drag a damn Antarctica iceberg, about 1,000kms off the Antarctica coast, with the goal of retaining its water.
While many may deem such a duty ridiculous, or a little over the top, all indications are highlighting that this will indeed go ahead. Will it work though? And how much might something never done before actually work?
Apparently so. Now, it comes down to the all-important test phase, which they’re set to run later on this year.
That will involve dragging a chunk of Antarctic ice to the western coast of Australia, or the eastern coast of South Africa.
Isn’t it expensive to drag a chunk of ice from one country to another? Sure is. This pre-actual operation operation will cost $80 million.
And where will this all begin? And where are we getting this precious cargo from?
The iceberg is being removed from Heard Island, which actually belongs to Australia. So, in the case of this test copping a green-light, the iceberg should be headed our way, to Perth.
The entrepreneur behind it all, Abdulla Alshehi told Euronews “it will be cheaper to bring in these icebergs rather than using desalination water.”
Should they use desalination plants, the alternative option, they’d be “killing fish and marine life,” he said.
“We believe it will be economically better and more environmentally friendly to use the icebergs, not just for the United Arab Emirates, but throughout the world,” Alshehi concludes.
Now, we just have to wait and see whether or not this brave operation will go ahead. If it does, the UAE could have fresh water for five years for a million people.
Watch this video about this ambitious 2019 project:
