Desalination
Desalination is a rapidly growing sector of the Blue Economy, with over 2 300 seawater desalination units in the EU, out of over 18 000 worldwide. The Mediterranean is home to most of them. As a result, the EU generates around 9.2 million cubic metres of desalinated water every day (10% of global capacity).
Despite this, a quarter of the world's population lives in countries with chronic water scarcity and it's predicted that many regions in the EU will face severe water scarcity by 2050 when water demand is expected to increase by up to 30%.
As a result, 3.5 billion people will be at risk of water scarcity by 2025, and the global water deficit is estimated to reach 40% by 2030. However, more freshwater can be made available for domestic, industrial, and agricultural use through the desalination of seawater.