And there is as yet no water sharing agreement, no treaty, that includes all the key countries that sets out how that water should be shared. With populations expected to grow in each of these river basins by between 40 and 70 percent over the next 30 years, there will be increasing competition for a limited amount of water. Against that backdrop of potential instability, let's examine some of the solutions for effective water conservation and improved efficiency that you've studied. Let's start with the process of desalinating water. In one of your previously published articles, you wrote that some Arab nations are turning oil riches into water.
Desalination is very energy intensive.
It takes a lot of energy to remove salt from water. It's an expensive source of supply, and that's why you tend to find it in places where energy is readily available and relatively inexpensive. That's why I made the comment about turning oil into water, because very few other places can afford to do that. About half of all the desalination capacity is in the Persian Gulf region. At the moment, we're getting less than two-tenths of 1 percent of global water use from desalination, so it's a very small share.