The history of renewable energies for water desalination

Science and technology join together to promote useful applications. History through the centuries relates the progress of both according to the means of each period. Energy was always the first need of humanity through which other sciences or technologies were promoted. Natural forces, today called "renewable energies", were known from early antiquity and were utilized in various fields. Despite the tremendous progress of science and technology from ancient times, renewable energies are still in the state of research or pilot applications. Progress in the use of renewable energies is briefly described with emphasis on the efforts made to trap and convert these natural forces into a usable form of energy. The progress made on applications of solar energy, wind energy, the kinetic forces of waves and geothermal energy are very briefly described. The connection to desalination methods, a rather new achievement, is also briefly presented with some examples.