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94-397: The OCP Group (OCP S.A.) (formerly Office Chérifien des Phosphates) is a state-owned phosphate rock miner, phosphoric acid manufacturer and fertilizer producer. Founded in 1920, the company has grown to become the world's largest producer of phosphate and phosphate-based products and it is one of the largest phosphate, fertilizer , chemicals , and mineral industrial companies in

188-535: A 10%+ compound rate, doubling in abundance every seven years. There are now about 21,000 desalination plants in operation around the globe. The biggest ones are in the United Arab Emirates , Saudi Arabia , and Israel. The world's largest desalination plant is located in Saudi Arabia ( Ras Al-Khair Power and Desalination Plant ) with a capacity of 1,401,000 cubic meters per day. Desalination

282-502: A April 2024, researchers from the Australian National University published experimental results of a novel technique for desalination. This technique, thermodiffusive desalination, passes saline water through a channel with a temperature gradient. Species migrate under this temperature gradient in a process known a thermodiffusion. Researchers then separated the water into fractions. After multiple passes through

376-479: A buffer tank on a hill with seawater. The reverse osmosis process receives its pressurized seawater feed in non-sunlight hours by gravity, resulting in sustainable drinking water production without the need for fossil fuels, an electricity grid or batteries. Nano-tubes are also used for the same function (i.e., Reverse Osmosis). Forward osmosis uses a semi-permeable membrane to effect separation of water from dissolved solutes. The driving force for this separation

470-701: A decade of regional drought. By the late 1960s and the early 1970s, RO started to show promising results to replace traditional thermal desalination units. Research took place at state universities in California, at the Dow Chemical Company and DuPont . Many studies focus on ways to optimize desalination systems. The first commercial RO plant, the Coalinga desalination plant, was inaugurated in California in 1965 for brackish water . Dr. Sidney Loeb , in conjunction with staff at UCLA , designed

564-610: A fertilizer plant with Krishak Bharati Limited ( Kribhco ) that will have a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year – the combined investment is worth US$ 230 million. The unit will use phosphate transported from OCP facilities in Morocco, the company will also be responsible for the shipping of the products. OCP has a research, sales and marketing function in Asia Pacific based in Singapore and Beijing . The construction of

658-460: A fertilizer processing plant is underway in Singapore to allow easier mass customization of products for local markets. Founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of OCP S.A. in 2016, the company acts as a distributor for OCP products as well as operating facilities for fertilizer production. This capacity is being expanded rapidly following a large-scale investment program. OCP Group sees Africa as

752-752: A field by field scale. A number of different formulations are produced. NP+ are nitrogen and phosphate-based complex fertilizers, enriched with secondary and micro nutrients . NPK+ is similar in structure to the former, but uses a different chemical process, and contains potash . OCP products can also be tailored to meet crop specific nutrient requirements, for example, for corn , cotton , or cocoa . Soluble Fertilizers are used for high value crops specifically for irrigated systems . They ensure efficient use of fertilizers, thus considerably enhance agricultural productivity and reduce water consumption. These fertilizers are well-suited to new micro-irrigation and sprinkler systems. The group's total fertilizer production

846-415: A government owning all or a controlling stake of the company's shares . This form is often referred to as a state-owned enterprise . A state-owned enterprise might variously operate as a not-for-profit corporation , as it may not be required to generate a profit; as a commercial enterprise in competitive sectors; or as a natural monopoly . Governments may also use the profitable entities they own to support

940-633: A large pilot plant to gather data on RO, but was successful enough to provide freshwater to the residents of Coalinga. This was a milestone in desalination technology, as it proved the feasibility of RO and its advantages compared to existing technologies (efficiency, no phase change required, ambient temperature operation, scalability, and ease of standardization). A few years later, in 1975, the first sea water reverse osmosis desalination plant came into operation. As of 2000, more than 2000 plants were operated. The largest are in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and

1034-693: A leader in phosphate creativity. In 2021, OCP Group and the Emirati Al Dahra Agricultural Company finalized the creation of a joint venture in Romania . The new company was dubbed SEEFCO S.A. (South East Europe Fertilizer Company). OCP Group contributed $ 310 million the Moroccan emergency fund, created by King Mohammed VI on March 15. State ownership In market-based economies, state-owned assets are often managed and operated as joint-stock corporations with

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1128-434: A lower temperature, when the ambient atmospheric pressure is less than usual atmospheric pressure. Thus, because of the reduced pressure, low-temperature "waste" heat from electrical power generation or industrial processes can be employed. Water is evaporated and separated from sea water through multi-stage flash distillation , which is a series of flash evaporations . Each subsequent flash process uses energy released from

1222-492: A major market for growth due to its unexploited potential due to the comparatively low use of fertilizers, which is reflected in lower than average per hectare crop yields . Support provided includes training programs and soil analysis that seeks to help farmers make the most of their land. OCP Africa operates in 16 African nations and has 12 subsidiary companies. OCP's largest African operation outside of Morocco, in Ethiopia,

1316-453: A market share of 49%. OCP also has a number of sites producing fertilizer. Fertilizer sales, including fortified fertilizers now account for slightly over half of OCP's total revenue and 23% of its world market share (2018 production: 8.8MT). The phosphate-based conventional fertilizers produced by OCP include; Mono-Ammonium Phosphate (MAP) a concentrated phosphate fertilizer, made with phosphorus and nitrogen . Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP)

1410-486: A multidisciplinary desalination methodology in the IBTS Greenhouse . The IBTS is an industrial desalination (power)plant on one side and a greenhouse operating with the natural water cycle (scaled down 1:10) on the other side. The various processes of evaporation and condensation are hosted in low-tech utilities, partly underground and the architectural shape of the building itself. This integrated biotectural system

1504-425: A phosphate processing plant, producing fertilizer and phosphoric acid. The scheme is expected to create more than 5,000 job in the region. Phosboucraa says that the project will continue a policy of hiring local workers, which they say make up 76% of the workforce, up from just 4% in 1976, achieved through outreach and training programs, and which have also led to hundreds of workers being trained to do skilled work at

1598-672: A significant amount of energy. The site employs more people than any other OCP mine, which is more than 6,100 people. In 2016, the mine produced 18.9 MT of Phosphate Rock, or 70% of the total group output. In 1994, the OCP Group started a new mining project in Sidi Chennane in the Khouribga area. The construction of the purified phosphoric acid plant was launched in Jorf Lasfar in 1996 and started production in 1998. In 2014,

1692-418: A significant effect on efficiency and durability. A study found that a membrane created via co-axial electrospinning of PVDF - HFP and silica aerogel was able to filter 99.99% of salt after continuous 30-day usage. The leading process for desalination in terms of installed capacity and yearly growth is reverse osmosis (RO). The RO membrane processes use semipermeable membranes and applied pressure (on

1786-423: A specific state institution or branch of government, used exclusively by that branch, such as a research laboratory. The latter refers to assets and resources owned by the population of a state which are mostly available to the entire public for use, such as a public park (see public space ). In neoclassical economic theory , the desirability of state ownership has been studied using contract theory . According to

1880-492: A vacuum. Under vacuum conditions the ice, desalinated, is melted and diverted for collection and the salt is collected. Electrodialysis uses electric potential to move the salts through pairs of charged membranes, which trap salt in alternating channels. Several variances of electrodialysis exist such as conventional electrodialysis , electrodialysis reversal . Electrodialysis can simultaneously remove salt and carbonic acid from seawater. Preliminary estimates suggest that

1974-487: A vertical tube seawater distilling unit that, thanks to its simplicity of design and ease of construction, gained popularity for shipboard use. Land-based units did not significantly appear until the latter half of the nineteenth century. In the 1860s, the US Army purchased three Normandy evaporators, each rated at 7000 gallons/day and installed them on the islands of Key West and Dry Tortugas . Another land-based plant

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2068-406: A whole. As such, state ownership is only one possible expression of public ownership, which itself is one variation of the broader concept of social ownership. In the context of socialism, public ownership implies that the surplus product generated by publicly owned assets accrues to all of society in the form of a social dividend , as opposed to a distinct class of private capital owners. There

2162-524: Is CETO , a wave power technology that desalinates seawater using submerged buoys. Wave-powered desalination plants began operating on Garden Island in Western Australia in 2013 and in Perth in 2015. Membrane distillation uses a temperature difference across a membrane to evaporate vapor from a brine solution and condense pure water on the colder side. The design of the membrane can have

2256-403: Is distillation (i.e., boiling and re- condensation of seawater to leave salt and impurities behind). There are currently two technologies with a large majority of the world's desalination capacity: multi-stage flash distillation and reverse osmosis . Solar distillation mimics the natural water cycle, in which the sun heats sea water enough for evaporation to occur. After evaporation,

2350-517: Is 8.8 million metric tonnes (including conventional fertilizers). OCP also produces animal feeds from phosphate. The product is called PHOSFEED and is made from phosphoric acid and calcium carbonate . PHOSFEED is GMP+, HACCP and ISO 22000 certified. While the majority of OCP's operations are based in Morocco due to its large Phosphate reserves, the company has expanded globally, in processing, sales, and distribution. The company has more than 160 customers on 5 continents. The companies also support

2444-550: Is a natural monopoly or because the government is promoting economic development and industrialization . State-owned enterprises may or may not be expected to operate in a broadly commercial manner and may or may not have monopolies in their areas of activity. The transformation of public entities and government agencies into government-owned corporations is sometimes a precursor to privatization . State capitalist economies are capitalist market economies that have high degrees of government-owned businesses. Public ownership of

2538-422: Is a concentrated phosphate fertilizer, that can also be used as a fire retardant . Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) is a concentrated phosphate fertilizer made with just phosphate. These can be used directly for soil fertilization or as raw material for blends, or other products. OCP Group also produces a number of fortified fertilizers that can be tailored to meet the needs of particular types of soil – even down to

2632-640: Is a joint venture between OCP Group and the Wallonia Regional Investment Company. The original company was founded in 1882, in Belgium as the Société Anonyme Métallurgique de Prayon, a Zinc producer. In 1996, OCP bought half of the shares. The company specializes in chemical R&D, finding and developing compounds and developing their use cases. The company, through OCP's expertise is recognized as

2726-416: Is a process of transferring private or municipal assets to a central government or state entity. Municipalization is the process of transferring private or state assets to a municipal government. A state-owned enterprise is a commercial enterprise owned by a government entity in a capitalist market or mixed economy . Reasons for state ownership of commercial enterprises are that the enterprise in question

2820-594: Is a process that removes mineral components from saline water . More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is soil desalination . This is important for agriculture. It is possible to desalinate saltwater, especially sea water , to produce water for human consumption or irrigation. The by-product of the desalination process is brine . Many seagoing ships and submarines use desalination. Modern interest in desalination mostly focuses on cost-effective provision of fresh water for human use. Along with recycled wastewater , it

2914-416: Is a wide variety of organizational forms for state-run industry, ranging from specialized technocratic management to direct workers' self-management . In traditional conceptions of non-market socialism, public ownership is a tool to consolidate the means of production as a precursor to the establishment of economic planning for the allocation of resources between organizations, as required by government or by

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3008-475: Is also processed at Youssoufia. The Jorf Lasfar processing platform is the largest fertilizer complex in the world. The first phase of the site opened in 1984 and has been expanded multiple times since. Products are made using phosphate rock mined in Khouribga. The site produced 4.63Mt of fertilizer in 2016, including, 1.86Mt Phosphoric acid , 1.91Mt MAP , and 1.14Mt DAP . Over 30 different types of fertilizer were produced to suit various soil types . The complex

3102-451: Is an artificial process by which saline water (generally sea water ) is converted to fresh water. The most common desalination processes are distillation and reverse osmosis . There are several methods. Each has advantages and disadvantages but all are useful. The methods can be divided into membrane-based (e.g., reverse osmosis ) and thermal-based (e.g., multistage flash distillation ) methods. The traditional process of desalination

3196-548: Is an osmotic pressure gradient, such as a "draw" solution of high concentration. Freeze–thaw desalination (or freezing desalination) uses freezing to remove fresh water from salt water. Salt water is sprayed during freezing conditions into a pad where an ice-pile builds up. When seasonal conditions warm, naturally desalinated melt water is recovered. This technique relies on extended periods of natural sub-freezing conditions. A different freeze–thaw method, not weather dependent and invented by Alexander Zarchin , freezes seawater in

3290-418: Is currently expensive compared to most alternative sources of water, and only a very small fraction of total human use is satisfied by desalination. It is usually only economically practical for high-valued uses (such as household and industrial uses) in arid areas. However, there is growth in desalination for agricultural use and highly populated areas such as Singapore or California. The most extensive use

3384-563: Is desirable. In their model, the government and a private firm can invest to improve the quality of a public good and to reduce its production costs. It turns out that private ownership results in strong incentives to reduce costs, but it may also lead to poor quality. Hence, depending on the available investment technologies, there are situations in which state ownership is better. The Hart-Shleifer-Vishny theory has been extended in many directions. For instance, some authors have also considered mixed forms of private ownership and state ownership. In

3478-425: Is expected that costs will continue to decrease with technology improvements that include, but are not limited to, improved efficiency, reduction in plant footprint, improvements to plant operation and optimization, more effective feed pretreatment, and lower cost energy sources. Reverse osmosis uses a thin-film composite membrane, which comprises an ultra-thin, aromatic polyamide thin-film. This polyamide film gives

3572-504: Is in the Persian Gulf . While noting costs are falling, and generally positive about the technology for affluent areas in proximity to oceans, a 2005 study argued, "Desalinated water may be a solution for some water-stress regions, but not for places that are poor, deep in the interior of a continent, or at high elevation. Unfortunately, that includes some of the places with the biggest water problems.", and, "Indeed, one needs to lift

3666-531: Is made up of several units including the newest, the Africa fertilizer complex and JFC II. The site is the world's largest exporter of fertilizer. The site has a desalination plant with a capacity of 25 Mm per year – since its construction this has significantly reduced the amount of water consumed by the plant from local sources. The first OCP chemical site, the Safi complex started its activities in 1965 to process

3760-407: Is more cost effective if kept at a small scale. Wave powered desalination systems generally convert mechanical wave motion directly to hydraulic power for reverse osmosis. Such systems aim to maximize efficiency and reduce costs by avoiding conversion to electricity, minimizing excess pressurization above the osmotic pressure, and innovating on hydraulic and wave power components. One such example

3854-493: Is most suitable for large scale desert greening as it has a km footprint for the water distillation and the same for landscape transformation in desert greening, respectively the regeneration of natural fresh water cycles. In vacuum distillation atmospheric pressure is reduced, thus lowering the temperature required to evaporate the water. Liquids boil when the vapor pressure equals the ambient pressure and vapor pressure increases with temperature. Effectively, liquids boil at

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3948-417: Is one of the few water resources independent of rainfall. Due to its energy consumption, desalinating sea water is generally more costly than fresh water from surface water or groundwater , water recycling and water conservation ; however, these alternatives are not always available and depletion of reserves is a critical problem worldwide. Desalination processes are using either thermal methods (in

4042-400: Is set to expand significantly on the completion of a new fertilizer blending unit that will increase supply of customized fertilizer. In 2010, OCP Group entered in to a joint venture with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. , one of the world's largest providers of technical , professional, and construction services. The new company was named Jacobs Engineering SA (JESA). Prayon Technologies

4136-460: Is the largest ever made in the Moroccan market. In February 2016, the OCP Group created a new subsidiary named OCP Africa, which is responsible for leading the development of the group in the African fertilizer market through a network of subsidiaries in 12 African countries. On 8 September 2023, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 M w hit Marrakesh-Safi region of Morocco. 6 Days later,

4230-449: Is the most thermodynamically efficient among methods powered by heat, a few limitations exist such as a max temperature and max number of effects. Vapor-compression evaporation involves using either a mechanical compressor or a jet stream to compress the vapor present above the liquid. The compressed vapor is then used to provide the heat needed for the evaporation of the rest of the sea water. Since this system only requires power, it

4324-749: The Middle Ages , but desalination became feasible on a large scale only in the modern era. A good example of this experimentation comes from Leonardo da Vinci (Florence, 1452), who realized that distilled water could be made cheaply in large quantities by adapting a still to a cookstove. During the Middle Ages elsewhere in Central Europe, work continued on distillation refinements, although not necessarily directed towards desalination. The first major land-based desalination plant may have been installed under emergency conditions on an island off

4418-662: The South Seas , reported that he had been able to supply his men with fresh water by means of shipboard distillation. Additionally, during the early 1600s, several prominent figures of the era such as Francis Bacon and Walter Raleigh published reports on desalination. These reports and others, set the climate for the first patent dispute concerning desalination apparatus. The two first patents regarding water desalination were approved in 1675 and 1683 (patents No. 184 and No. 226, published by William Walcot and Robert Fitzgerald (and others), respectively). Nevertheless, neither of

4512-593: The country's exports and approximately 3.5% of the GDP in 2010. In 2016, Fitch Ratings confirmed the rating of "investment grade" for the OCP Group. After approval from the AMMC ((Moroccan Authority of the Capital Market) Autorité Marocaine du Marché des Capitaux) on December 9, 2016, the OCP Group managed to reach 10.2 billion dirhams of bonds from the national community. This loan

4606-423: The means of production is a subset of social ownership , which is the defining characteristic of a socialist economy. However, state ownership and nationalization by themselves are not socialist, as they can exist under a wide variety of different political and economic systems for a variety of different reasons. State ownership by itself does not imply social ownership where income rights belong to society as

4700-457: The 1500s, and formulated practical advice that was publicized to all U.S. ships on the reverse side of sailing clearance permits. Beginning about 1800, things started changing as a consequence of the appearance of the steam engine and the so-called age of steam . Knowledge of the thermodynamics of steam processes and the need for a pure water source for its use in boilers generated a positive effect regarding distilling systems. Additionally,

4794-498: The Hart-Shleifer-Vishny model it is assumed that all parties have the same information, while Schmitz (2023) has studied an extension of their analysis allowing for asymmetric information . Moreover, the Hart-Shleifer-Vishny model assumes that the private party derives no utility from provision of the public good. Besley and Ghatak (2001) have shown that if the private party (a non-governmental organization) cares about

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4888-401: The OCP Group became a limited company. Currently 95% of the OCP Group is owned by the Moroccan state and 5% by Banque Centrale Populaire investment funds. In 2007, the OCP Group set itself a target to triple its production of fertilizers by 2020. The OCP Group plays an important economic and social role in Morocco. The value of phosphates and their derivatives represented nearly a quarter of

4982-477: The OCP Group donated $ 97.5 Million to Morocco’s Earthquake Relief Fund. OCP's first mine opened in Khouribga in 1921. The Khouribga area has the richest phosphate deposits in the world. In 2014, a slurry pipeline between Khouribga and Jorf Lasfar was launched, which transports phosphate from the mines to the processing facility safely and efficiently. The pipeline, one world's longest gravity powered pipelines saves more than 3 Mm of water per year, as well as

5076-591: The OCP Group inaugurated the slurry pipeline linking Khouribga to Jorf Lasfar, a technological advancement in the transportation of phosphates. In February 2016, a fertilizer production plant dedicated entirely to Africa was inaugurated at Jorf Lasfar, the African Fertilizer Complex. Connected to the slurry pipeline, JFC 4 will be fully integrated and have its own thermoelectric plant. These plants not only make Jorf Lasfar completely energy self-sufficient, they also create an energy surplus that fuels

5170-479: The RO membranes are destroyed. To mitigate damage, various pretreatment stages are introduced. Anti-scaling inhibitors include acids and other agents such as the organic polymers polyacrylamide and polymaleic acid , phosphonates and polyphosphates . Inhibitors for fouling are biocides (as oxidants against bacteria and viruses), such as chlorine, ozone, sodium or calcium hypochlorite. At regular intervals, depending on

5264-659: The UAE; and the biggest plant with a volume of 1,401,000 m3/d is in Saudi Arabia (Ras Al Khair). As of 2021 22,000 plants were in operation In 2024 the Catalan government installed a floating offshore plant near the port of Barcelona and purchased 12 mobile desalination units for the northern region of the Costa Brava to combat the severe drought. In 2012, cost averaged $ 0.75 per cubic meter. By 2022, that had declined (before inflation) to $ 0.41. Desalinated supplies are growing at

5358-450: The best fertilizers for their needs. The company also helps market, sell, and distribute OCP products in the country. OCP sales in the country increased by 20% in Q1 2019. OCP India undertakes market and soil research in order to drive sales of OCP products in the country. The company carries out administration, sales support and marketing for OCP's Indian customers. The company is constructing

5452-473: The case of distillation ) or membrane-based methods (e.g. in the case of reverse osmosis ). An estimate in 2018 found that "18,426 desalination plants are in operation in over 150 countries. They produce 87 million cubic meters of clean water each day and supply over 300 million people." The energy intensity has improved: It is now about 3 kWh/m (in 2018), down by a factor of 10 from 20–30 kWh/m in 1970. Nevertheless, desalination represented about 25% of

5546-414: The channel, the researchers were able to achieve NaCL concentration drop of 25000 ppm with a recovery rate of 10% of the original water volume. The desalination process's energy consumption depends on the water's salinity. Brackish water desalination requires less energy than seawater desalination. The energy intensity of seawater desalination has improved: It is now about 3 kWh/m (in 2018), down by

5640-656: The coast of Tunisia in 1560. It is believed that a garrison of 700 Spanish soldiers was besieged by the Turkish army and that, during the siege, the captain in charge fabricated a still capable of producing 40 barrels of fresh water per day, though details of the device have not been reported. Before the Industrial Revolution , desalination was primarily of concern to oceangoing ships, which otherwise needed to keep on board supplies of fresh water. Sir Richard Hawkins (1562–1622), who made extensive travels in

5734-652: The communities they operate in by analyzing soil to tailor fertilizer to specific needs . OCP North America , headquartered in Minnesota , United States , was founded in 2019. OCP's largest South American operations are located in Brazil . The company's Brazilian operations are made up of two companies, OCP di Brasil and OCP Fertilizantes, both headquartered in São Paulo . The companies undertake competitor and market research as well as working with farmers to establish

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5828-507: The company's main business. The company extracted 34.4 million tonnes in 2018, 11.3 million tons of which were exported, with Khouribga accounting for the biggest share. OCP market share in this product category is 38%. Phosphoric acid is made from phosphate and due to its non-toxic nature, is widely used in the food , cosmetic , and dental industry . It is an example of diversification and supply chain integration to drive value. OCP produced 6.1 million metric tonnes in 2018, giving it

5922-471: The complex's sea water desalination station. Gantour is made up of two mining facilities, Benguerir and Youssoufia and holds the second largest amount of Morocco's phosphate reserves, 37% of the total. The mine in Benguerir opened in 1980. It is situated 70 km north of Marrakesh . In 2016, the mines' produced 6.3MT of Phosphate Rock , representing 23% of the group's total output. Since 2017,

6016-421: The condensation of the water vapor from the previous step. Multiple-effect distillation (MED) works through a series of steps called "effects". Incoming water is sprayed onto pipes which are then heated to generate steam. The steam is then used to heat the next batch of incoming sea water. To increase efficiency, the steam used to heat the sea water can be taken from nearby power plants. Although this method

6110-707: The construction of over 200 electrodialysis and distillation plants globally, reverse osmosis (RO) research, and international cooperation (for example, the First International Water Desalination Symposium and Exposition in 1965). The Office of Saline Water merged into the Office of Water Resources Research in 1974. The first industrial desalination plant in the United States opened in Freeport, Texas in 1961 after

6204-444: The cost of such carbon removal can be paid for in large part if not entirely from the sale of the desalinated water produced as a byproduct. Microbial desalination cells are biological electrochemical systems that implements the use of electro-active bacteria to power desalination of water in situ , resourcing the natural anode and cathode gradient of the electro-active bacteria and thus creating an internal supercapacitor . In

6298-407: The energy consumed by the water sector in 2016. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle observed in his work Meteorology that "salt water, when it turns into vapour, becomes sweet and the vapour does not form salt water again when it condenses", and that a fine wax vessel would hold potable water after being submerged long enough in seawater, having acted as a membrane to filter the salt. At

6392-467: The general budget. The creation of a state-owned enterprise from other forms of public property is called corporatization . In Soviet-type economies , state property was the dominant form of industry as property. The state held a monopoly on land and natural resources, and enterprises operated under the legal framework of a nominally planned economy , and thus according to different criteria than enterprises in market and mixed economies. Nationalization

6486-462: The groups site in the North. The numbers published by Phosboucraa, however, are disputed by local activists, including Western Sahara Research Watch, which notes that the designation of "local workers" doesn't distinguish between settlers and indigenous people. The mining of phosphorite , (also known as phosphate rock or rock phosphate) was OCP's earliest operation, with the sale of these products being

6580-533: The means of production may be labelled state socialism . State ownership was recognized by Friedrich Engels in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific as, by itself, not doing away with capitalism, including the process of capital accumulation and structure of wage labor. Engels argued that state ownership of commercial industry would represent the final stage of capitalism, consisting of ownership and management of large-scale production and manufacture by

6674-507: The membrane contamination; fluctuating seawater conditions; or when prompted by monitoring processes, the membranes need to be cleaned, known as emergency or shock-flushing. Flushing is done with inhibitors in a fresh water solution and the system must go offline. This procedure is environmentally risky, since contaminated water is diverted into the ocean without treatment. Sensitive marine habitats can be irreversibly damaged. Off-grid solar-powered desalination units use solar energy to fill

6768-438: The membrane feed side) to preferentially induce water permeation through the membrane while rejecting salts. Reverse osmosis plant membrane systems typically use less energy than thermal desalination processes. Energy cost in desalination processes varies considerably depending on water salinity, plant size and process type. At present the cost of seawater desalination, for example, is higher than traditional water sources, but it

6862-674: The membrane its transport properties, whereas the remainder of the thin-film composite membrane provides mechanical support. The polyamide film is a dense, void-free polymer with a high surface area, allowing for its high water permeability. A recent study has found that the water permeability is primarily governed by the internal nanoscale mass distribution of the polyamide active layer. The reverse osmosis process requires maintenance. Various factors interfere with efficiency: ionic contamination (calcium, magnesium etc.); dissolved organic carbon (DOC); bacteria; viruses; colloids and insoluble particulates; biofouling and scaling . In extreme cases,

6956-491: The mine has been one of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University's testing sites that is open to the scientific community and allows researchers from partner universities to test full-scale solutions in key areas. Called the "Advanced Mining Technology Platform," this pilot mine has many purposes. Rock from Benguerir is transported by rail to Safi by ONCF , the national railway company of Morocco. The Group's activities are organised into an integrated model covering all operations of

7050-576: The phosphate rock from Benguerir. In addition to fertilizer and phosphoric acid production units, the site has a phosphate washing unit and a sulfuric acid plant. In 2016, the site produced 1.5Mt of phosphoric acid and 832.6Kt of TSP fertilizer. These figures represented the highest production figures in the site's history. The site produces fertilizer for both the domestic and international markets. In 1976, OCP acquired 65% of Phosboucraa mine ( Boucraâ - Laayoune ), in Western Sahara and became

7144-399: The property rights approach based on incomplete contracting (developed by Oliver Hart and his co-authors), ownership matters because it determines what happens in contingencies that were not considered in prevailing contracts. The work by Hart, Shleifer and Vishny (1997) is the leading application of the property rights approach to the question whether state ownership or private ownership

7238-501: The public good, then the party with the larger valuation of the public good should always be the owner, regardless of the parties' investment technologies. More recently, some authors have shown that the investment technology also matters in the Besley-Ghatak framework if an investing party is indispensable or if there are bargaining frictions between the government and the private party. Desalination Desalination

7332-920: The same time the desalination of seawater was recorded in China. Both the Classic of Mountains and Water Seas in the Period of the Warring States and the Theory of the Same Year in the Eastern Han Dynasty mentioned that people found that the bamboo mats used for steaming rice would form a thin outer layer after long use. The as-formed thin film had adsorption and ion exchange functions, which could adsorb salt. Numerous examples of experimentation in desalination appeared throughout Antiquity and

7426-407: The sea and somewhat high, such as Riyadh and Harare . By contrast in other locations transport costs are much less, such as Beijing, Bangkok , Zaragoza , Phoenix , and, of course, coastal cities like Tripoli . After desalination at Jubail , Saudi Arabia, water is pumped 320 km inland to Riyadh . For coastal cities, desalination is increasingly viewed as a competitive choice. In 2023, Israel

7520-541: The sole owner in 2002. Because Western Sahara is a non-self governing territory, the legality of mining by a foreign state actor is contentious under international law. As a result, several funds have disinvested from buyers of phosphates mined by Phosboucraa, and exports have dropped. Operations at the mine originally began in 1972; its activities include mining, processing and marketing phosphate rock. Boucraa mine represents approximately 2% of Morocco's total phosphate reserves, 4.6% of OCP Group's total revenue and around 8% of

7614-417: The spread of European colonialism induced a need for freshwater in remote parts of the world, thus creating the appropriate climate for water desalination. In parallel with the development and improvement of systems using steam ( multiple-effect evaporators ), these type of devices quickly demonstrated their desalination potential. In 1852, Alphonse René le Mire de Normandy was issued a British patent for

7708-484: The state's management policies, though these rights are not property rights as they are not transmissible. For example, if a family is allocated an apartment that is state owned, it will have been granted a tenancy of the apartment, which may be lifelong or inheritable, but the management and control rights are held by various government departments . There is a distinction to be made between state ownership and public property. The former may refer to assets operated by

7802-577: The state. Within the United Kingdom, public ownership is mostly associated with the Labour Party (a centre-left democratic socialist party), specifically due to the creation of Clause IV of the "Labour Party Manifesto" in 1918. "Clause IV" was written by Fabian Society member Sidney Webb . When ownership of a resource is vested in the state, or any branch of the state such as a local authority , individual use "rights" are based on

7896-527: The state. State ownership is advocated as a form of social ownership for practical concerns, with the state being seen as the obvious candidate for owning and operating the means of production. Proponents assume that the state, as the representative of the public interest , would manage resources and production for the benefit of the public. As a form of social ownership, state ownership may be contrasted with cooperatives and common ownership. Socialist theories and political ideologies that favor state ownership of

7990-500: The total rock extracted. 100% of profits made in the region are reinvested in the local community through the Phosboucraa Foundation. The Phosboucraa Foundation has so far helped more the 50,000 people through its various programs in education, health, and entrepreneurship. Phosboucraa's activities are located in 3 different places: To help develop the value chain at this site OCP is investing $ 2.2 billion to build

8084-440: The two inventions entered service as a consequence of scale-up difficulties. No significant improvements to the basic seawater distillation process were made during the 150 years from the mid-1600s until 1800. When the frigate Protector was sold to Denmark in the 1780s (as the ship Hussaren ) its still was studied and recorded in great detail. In the United States, Thomas Jefferson catalogued heat-based methods going back to

8178-561: The value chain from the extraction of phosphates to the production and marketing of various products including fertilizers and phosphoric acid. The mine in Youssoufia is the second most important mine to the Moroccan economy after the Khouribga mine. It is also the third biggest producer worldwide of phosphate. Since 1998, OCP has also operated the Bouchane mine, which is situated 40 km from Youssoufia. The phosphate from this mine

8272-428: The water by 2000 m, or transport it over more than 1600 km to get transport costs equal to the desalination costs." Thus, it may be more economical to transport fresh water from somewhere else than to desalinate it. In places far from the sea, like New Delhi, or in high places, like Mexico City , transport costs could match desalination costs. Desalinated water is also expensive in places that are both somewhat far from

8366-425: The water vapor is condensed onto a cool surface. There are two types of solar desalination. The first type uses photovoltaic cells to convert solar energy to electrical energy to power desalination. The second type converts solar energy to heat, and is known as solar thermal powered desalination. Water can evaporate through several other physical effects besides solar irradiation . These effects have been included in

8460-533: The world by revenue. OCP has access to more than 70% of the world's phosphate rock reserves. Initially a mining company, OCP diversified in 1965 to become a phosphate processor, making it the world's largest fertilizer manufacturer. The company holds a 31% market share of the world phosphate product market. The group employs nearly 23,000 people in Morocco and a number of international subsidiaries. In 2018, its revenues amounted to US$ 5.884 billion. The OCP Group

8554-636: Was created in the United States Department of the Interior in 1955 in accordance with the Saline Water Conversion Act of 1952. This act was motivated by a water shortage in California and inland western United States. The Department of the Interior allocated resources including research grants, expert personnel, patent data, and land for experiments to further advancements. The results of these efforts included

8648-819: Was founded in Morocco in 1920 as the Office Chérifien des Phosphates following Royal Decree. Mining production began in 1921, when it began extracting phosphate rock at its first mine in Khouribga . Transportation of the phosphate to the port of Casablanca also started in 1921, allowing the first export of phosphate that year. Subsequently, OCP launched other mining sites in Youssoufia in 1931 and in Benguerir in 1976, and launched chemical production in Safi in 1965, and in Jorf Lasfar in 1984. In 2008,

8742-590: Was installed at Suakin during the 1880s that provided freshwater to the British troops there. It consisted of six-effect distillers with a capacity of 350 tons/day. After World War II, many technologies were developed or improved such as Multi Effect Flash desalination (MEF) and Multi Stage Flash desalination (MSF). Another notable technology is freeze-thaw desalination. Freeze-thaw desalination, (cryo-desalination or FD), excludes dissolved minerals from saline water through crystallization. The Office of Saline Water

8836-508: Was using desalination to replenish the Sea of Galilee 's water supply. Not everyone is convinced that desalination is or will be economically viable or environmentally sustainable for the foreseeable future. Debbie Cook wrote in 2011 that desalination plants can be energy intensive and costly. Therefore, water-stressed regions might do better to focus on conservation or other water supply solutions than invest in desalination plants. Desalination

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