The Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) organized a technical workshop on reducing the environmental impact of desalination through using renewables. The workshop took place at MEDRC headquarters in Muscat (Sultanate of Oman).

The scope of this technical workshop was the use of renewables to reduce the environmental impact of desalination through presenting some case studies from the MENA region and Spain. There is a growing concern on the environmental impact of desalination. In fact, researchers are localizing hyper saline water in Arabian Gulf, mainly close to Kuwaiti coasts (the salinity values peak at around 50 ppt), which is a direct effect of the brine disposal, and also there is growing concern about desalinations carbon footprint. This workshop provided a useful guide to regional expert’s developing their own approaches in this important policy area.

Three distinguished speakers made detailed presentations. Dr. Noreddine Ghaffour, a Research Professor from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. .Dr. Guillermo Zaragoza, from the Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (CIEMAT), Almeria/ Spain, is a senior researcher in the Department of Energy of the Spanish Public Research Organism CIEMAT. The third keynote speaker was Dr. Basem Shomar, from Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI), One of Qatar Foundation branches. He is principal Investigator head of the Environmental and Chemical Science Department. 

Valuable suggestions were made and noted by the research Department to be taken into consideration in future research projects.