Using systems thinking and open innovation to strengthen aquaculture policy for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In a world of nine billion people and a widening income gap between the rich and poor, it is time to rethink how aquaculture can strengthen its contribution to the second UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of zero hunger in our generation. The disparity in the level of sustainable aquaculture development at present, between and within countries, especially regarding human access to farmed aquatic food remains highly variable across the globe. This paper offers a fresh look at the opportunities from using systems thinking and new open innovation measuring tools to grow sustainable aquaculture. Political will in many nations is the main constraint to aquaculture in realising its potential as an: accessible source of micronutrients and nutritious protein; aid to meeting conservation goals; economic prosperity generator where benefits extend to locals and provider of indirect social benefits such as access to education and well‐being, among others. Resources to enable strong partnerships (SDG 17) between academia, civic society, government and industry should be prioritised by governments to build a sustainable aquatic food system, accessible to all, forever

DESALINATION Feasibility of salt production Corn inland RO desalination plant reject brine: a case study

Abstract Production and disposal ofreject brine are an integral part of an overall desalination process. For inland desalination plants, this poses a serious challenge to operators, as the option of ocean disposal ofreject brine is not available. Various disposal options such as reinjection, lined and unlined evaporation ponds and natural depressions (lake) are currently being used. An alternative approach is to further process the reject brine to extract all the salts. This has the advantages of being enviromnentally friendly and producing commercial products (i.e., salts and fresh water). A desktop prefeasibility study using data from Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), operating plants in Bahja, Rima, Nimr and Marmul, confirmed the technical feasibility of treating reject brines in simple processing routes using SAL-PROC technology. SAL-PROC is an integrated process for sequential extraction of dissolved elements from inorganic saline waters in the form of valuable chemical products in crystalline, slurry and liquid forms. The process involves multiple evaporation and/or cooling, supplemented by mineral and chemical processing. An analysis indicated that various types of salts including gypsum, sodium chloride, magnesium hydroxide, calcium chloride, calcium carbonate, and sodium sulphate can be produced from the reject brine of PDO desalination plants. These products have an approximate market value of US $895,000 annually