> If solar + batteries + RO plants could produce water at a price that made agriculture economically viable, then I just don't see how it wouldn't already be happening.
The costs of solar and batteries have been dropping for decades. It's 100% believable that this type of thing has been considered, repeatedly, and discarded as economically infeasible, leading to the major players in the field choosing to ignore it for a while—but that the costs have now dropped enough that the economics work out.
The costs of solar and batteries have been dropping for decades. It's 100% believable that this type of thing has been considered, repeatedly, and discarded as economically infeasible, leading to the major players in the field choosing to ignore it for a while—but that the costs have now dropped enough that the economics work out.