Key points
​Introduction
Water scarcity is one of the major issues of today’s world. Water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. However, potable water accounts for a mere 2.5%, which is insufficient to cater to the needs of an ever-growing populace. Water scarcity is evident in geographic locations, which do not have adequate fresh water resources like ponds, rivers and long coastlines.
In order to address these issues, countries meet their demands by water treatment technologies such as desalination, which is a costly affair. To a considerable extent these technologies are capable of sufficing usable water requirements especially the locations that are in proximity to aquatic systems.
However, they have still not been able to establish themselves as an effective solution in addressing issues especially in rain shadow areas. Such a scenario has led to the development of water capturing technologies from alternative non-aquatic sources. Atmospheric water generators (AWG) is one such development to gain prominence over the recent years.
These systems are not only used for moisture capture but also for purification of gaseous or air streams in industries. In other words, AWGs address both water and air pollution concerns.
Industry Analysis
Atmospheric water generators extract water or moisture content from humid air and purify it. In 2018, the global atmospheric water generator market revenue was valued at approximately USD 2.03 billion.
Growing AWG adoption in steel processing, pulp & paper, oil & gas, and power plants is expected to increase the market demand in the future.
In 2017, The International Monetary Fund stated that, world economic growth was more than 3%, which in turn is expected to create more demand for oil & gas in the future.
As a consequence, this is considered to boost the usage of extraction equipment and water treatment machinery. Growing demand to reuse water through eradication of oil contaminants from produced water and discharge, to boost use of AWGs in the oil & gas sector by 2025.
Global atmospheric water generator industry is fragmented in nature as large number of manufacturers are operating in developing countries such as India and China. Some prominent players are Dew Point Manufacturing, Water-Gen Ltd., Konia, Saisons Technocom Pvt. Ltd., Water Technologies International, Inc., Ecoloblue, Inc., Island Sky Corporation, Watair Inc., WaterMaker India Pvt. Ltd., Ltd., Air2Water LLC, Ambient Water, Eurosport Active World Corporation Technologies, Planets Water, and Fujian Yuxin Electronic Co.
Can renewable based AWGs alleviate energy costs?
Rising environmental concerns followed by less efficient electricity distribution network in developing countries is likely to pace-up the adoption of renewable energy sources. Atmospheric water generators powered by coal based electricity has resulted in worst carbon footprints.
In order to tackle this issue, many manufacturers are focusing on renewable energy powered atmospheric water generators. According to International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2040, renewables will account for nearly 40% of overall electricity generation mix.
Solar powered AWGs is expected to be one of the viable options suitable for use in humid and hot climatic areas, that have unpredictable electricity generation and supply and poor water quality. The readily available solar energy, makes it a low cost alternative over conventional electric power sources.
However, the technology for harnessing solar energy is currently more expensive as compared to the traditional electricity equipment. According to the International Copper Association (ICA), solar power and wind accounted for more than 10% of global fuel mix in 2017. It is expected that global solar and wind power will reach over one terawatt of capacity by 2035.
Rising R&D focus on atmospheric water generators technology will provide scope for manufacturers to develop generators with higher efficiency and lower environmental impact in the future. Two of the major factors that concern the manufacturers at present include requirement of high power inputs and high carbon footprint generation.
Carbon footprint of atmospheric water generators is largely attributed to the power source; when powered by coal-based electricity the AWG results in an exponentially greater carbon footprint as compared to desalination and reverse osmosis units.
New product development initiatives by several manufacturers now integrate on-board power generation units such as solar panels and wind turbines.
This increases the overall product cost owing to addition of solar panels, but reduces the overall electricity cost which is the prime concern of atmospheric water generator users.
Recent company developments in the market
- ​In May 2018, Water Technologies International, Inc., a U.S. based company engaged in distribution and manufacturing of advanced atmospheric water generators, announced a contract basis collaboration with OriginClear, Inc., based in the same country with an expertise in offering water treatment solutions.
- ​In Feb 2019, Bharat Electronics disclosed a new product line of atmospheric water generators at the Aero India 2019 event. This new AWGs are manufactured by Bharat Electronics in collaboration with MAITHRI, a Hyderabad based start-up and CSIR-IICT.
- ​In 2019, University of Texas developed a convenient, innovative, and environment friendly way of harvesting moisture from the atmosphere and converting it into drinking water. It is based on solar power water purification technology which uses hydrogels to clean water using solar power.
- ​In November 2018, Watergen, an Israeli manufacturer launched atmospheric mobile water generators under the GEN-350 product line. GEN-350 is used to release responders during the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County, California. GEN-350 has a capacity to produce up to 156 gallons of water per day.
- ​In 2017, Watergen working with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and American Red Cross, offered four water generators to Florida and Texas after Hurricanes Irma and Harvey) to provide clean and safe drinking water. In addition to this, Watergen also signed an agreement with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This R&D agreement is facilitated by Republican backer Sheldon Adelson to improve process for access to portable water during supply shortages.
Latest technological advancements
Metal organic framework (MOFs) based atmospheric water generators and sun-to-water devices have been a few of the recent technological breakthroughs in the global AWG industry. Atmospheric water sources constitute nearly 10% of fresh water on Earth.
However, improvement of process efficiencies for capturing water from ambient air at low humidity levels is still at a nascent stage. Metal organic framework (MOFs) based devices capture water at ambient conditions using natural sunlight.
Atmospheric water generator technology based on metal organic framework (MOFs) is capable of harvesting more than 2.5 litres of water per day for every kg of MOF. Sun-To-Water devices are capable of producing more than 40 gallons of clean water per day and it can be powered by hybrid solar plus grid power systems. These devices use energy efficient fans to pull air and circulate it through desiccant technology for water absorption.
Conclusion
To conclude, declining fresh water levels coupled with supportive government regulations is expected to increase atmospheric water generator market expansion over the coming years. Growing environmental concerns regarding increasing carbon footprint is expected to result in rising adoption of renewable energy sources in the future.
Atmospheric water generators are primarily being used in industries and commercial building owing to high installations costs. High electricity consumption coupled with high capital cost has been a limitation of AWG market growth especially in the residential segment.
However, increasing production of solar and wind energy based atmospheric water generators is expected to open new avenues in the global industry over the coming years.
Source: Adroit Market Research
