Figure 18 on page 55 graphs energy requirement not costs. The cost and energy requirement of groundwater only matters if groundwater exists.

Good point but you entirely miss the point. And that point is; can desalinated water replace groundwater where no groundwater exist, or where groundwater is extremely scarce? At which time we must consider the cost of desalinated water with the cost of groundwater where it does exist.

The answer of course depends on what you are using it for. If you are using it for industrial or household use, then it can. But if you are using it to irrigate farms then it is obviously way too expensive.

Ron P.

The federal government spends $2.00 to make a cubic meter of water that they sell to a farmer for a nickel. Why would that change?