Reply #8: my response to your post...... [View All]

[Grover_Cleveland]

Almost every rich country in the world has a birth rate lower than replacement level. As the world gets richer, this trend will happen in more countries.

Japan's population actually got smaller last year:

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/12/26/japan.population.reut

The CNN article seems to portary Japan's shrinking population as a problem, not as a reason to celebrate.

You mentioned water.

Over in Ashkelon, Israel, they just opened up a new desalination plant. It set two world records.

First, at 320,000 cubic meters of water per day, it's the world's biggest.

Secondly, at only 53 cents per cubic meter, it's also the world's cheapest. That's about 1/5 penny per gallon.

This particular plant has its own 80 MW gas power plant.

Here's one article on it:

http://www.ejpress.org/article/4873

Here's another article:

http://www.water-technology.net/projects/israel

And here are the technical specifications:

http://www.water-technology.net/projects/israel/specs.html

The plant was designed and built by a French company.

Of course I'd prefer using nuclear power instead of gas. But desalination at 53 cents per cubic meter means there's no reason to worry about water shortages.