Water Company in a Box -- Bourne Energy Develops Sustainable Water Making System

LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)--
Recently, the Financial Times of London reported that water will
probably become the most critical natural resource issue facing most
parts of the world. Already the World Bank claims that 80 countries
now have water shortages that threaten health and economies while 40
percent of the world -- more than 2 billion people -- have no access
to clean water or sanitation. Access to fresh, clean water will
increasingly become an issue as a number of factors come into play
affecting both supply and demand. The global population is increasing
with an increasing number of people becoming wealthier and accustomed
to using more water. Polluted water has become more common, as large
regions of the developing world industrialize. And there is an
ever-increasing demand for water by newer forms of energy like
biofuels, liquified coal and nuclear plants. In the United States, for
example, thermoelectric power plants consume 136 billion gallons/day
of fresh water (DOE, 2006), a number that translates to an average of
25 gallons of water to produce one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity.
Energy and power plants require water to scrub pollutants (generated
from burning coal, for example), to cool and clean machinery as well
as to produce the steam necessary to turn huge turbines and
generators. Production of other energy sources, such as oil and
natural gas, often relies on re-injection of water into wells.
Furthermore, some alternative energy sources, such as ethanol and
hydrogen, require large volumes of water. In response, Bourne Energy
has developed a fuel-free water system which is described in more
detail on their website: www.bourneenergy.com.

The world is gearing up for this approaching storm by accelerating
the construction of desalination plants around the globe with
prominent examples in Tampa Bay, Abu Dhabi, and Spain. But
desalination plants have their critics: they are large power users,
roughly 50% of the cost of a gallon of freshwater is energy. And these
large, complex plants suffer from high construction costs. Bourne's
RiverStar (Patent Pending) hydrokinetic system is fuel-free, designed
to tap the energy in thousands of miles of rivers that stretch across
the globe. Bourne's water making system requires only minimal onsite
construction, making it much faster to implement. Each RiverStar is a
self-contained "Water Company in a Box." Place several in a river
current and they produce fresh water purely from harnessing the energy
of moving water in the river. This technology has come about from the
development of new materials, micro-power generation systems,
hydrodynamic breakthroughs, advanced filters, improved structures and
new power transmission, communication and control technologies.

Bourne's new water making system will play a key role in our water
future as small to medium scale decentralized water systems gradually
replace or supplement conventional large systems. Advantages of
decentralized systems include reduced need for establishing long
distance water distribution and wastewater discharge networks, reduced
water loss through pipe leakage, reduced urban storm water runoff and
increased groundwater recharge, as well as lower energy demand and
consumption. Bourne has also developed tidal, wave and ocean current
powered water making systems. Bourne plans to have several small-scale
demonstration power arrays operating in Asia, US and Europe within the
next 12 months. For more information, please visit
www.bourneenergy.com.

Bourne Energy
C.S. Catlin, 310-456-8112
contact@bourneenergy.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008