Biography:

Prof. Thameur Chaibi worked for almost three decades promoting science, technology, higher education and research programs, as a scientist, expert and Adviser who has been serving the African Union Commission for more than 6 years, GIZ Senior Adviser for Research and International Cooperation Affairs, and as Senior Researcher and Director of Research at the National Research Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Water and Forestry, in Tunisia, for more than 20 years in the field of water?energy?nexus and climate technologies. He obtained his PhD from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in the field of Agricultural Engineering and Climate Technologies. He is a Member of the Founders Committee and Board of Directors of the Middle East and North Africa Network of Water Centers of Excellence (MENA/NWC) under the USAID?FABRI program (2012), the Advisory Group of the World Bank project on Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) (2011), the Governing Council of the African Academy of Sciences Representative of North Africa Region (2010). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) (2009) and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) (2006). He served in various capacities as Associate Member of the Environmental Security Panel under the NATO Science for Peace and Security and the European Commission Framework Programme.

Abstract:

Presentation Title: Could Solar Desalination save Agriculture in MENA Arid Areas? Abstract: Water challenge in arid countries is considered one of the most critical challenges facing agriculture and food systems, and is expected to grow with time. This is due mainly to the scarcity and rapid depletion of freshwater resources, and the increasing groundwater salinity. Nevertheless, these countries have generally a great solar energy potential. This potential can be best developed by solar desalination concepts and methods specifically suited for rural water supply, including small-scale irrigation, and also the protection of available water resources against overuse and pollution. The work was motivated by the increasing awareness of the need for enhancing water supplies schemes in arid lands featuring an appropriate technology for solar energy use in the irrigation field. An overview of solar energy based system concepts for desalination of irrigation water are described and analyzed. The design of the simplest devices into more complex geometries and the most recent technologies for solar thermal energy collectors with conventional thermal desalination processes is illustrated and the principal performance is discussed. It is concluded that the integrated design of protected cultivation in greenhouses combined with solar desalination devices represents an interesting possibility for the development of small scale cultivation in places where only saline water or brackish water is available. This concept allows controlling the climate conditions inside the greenhouse as well as closing the water cycle with the recovery of all the evapotranspiration from the plants. Here, interesting future prospects are identified for providing arid areas communities with the basic life necessities of water food and energy. Economic analyses including water costs and grower revenues show that the water desalination use in irrigation could be profitable for farmers, particularly for producing of high commercial value. However, further technical development and lower investment costs are needed for solar desalination concepts in order to reduce water costs down to levels competitive to more conventional desalination methods.