From Reactions.
Check out Weathered and the PBS Earth Month Playlist:
When seawater and freshwater mix, a surprising amount of energy is released. Norway tried to capture this energy using an osmotic power plant, but the plant mysteriously and abruptly shut down. Join George as he tries to figure out why using dialysis tubing, toilet parts, and a baby turbine.
Producers:
Andrew Sobey
Elaine Seward
Darren Weaver
Writer:
George Zaidan
Hosts:
George Zaidan
Executive Producer:
Matthew Radcliff
Scientific Consultants:
Brianne Raccor, Ph.D.
Anthony Straub, Ph.D.
Michelle Boucher, PhD
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell
Original Production Funding Provided by Anne Ray Foundation
Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society.
© 2025 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
Sources:
The physical basis of osmosis
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10457415/
Production of Electric Power by mixing Fresh and Salt Water in the Hydroelectric Pile | Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/174660a0
Salinity-gradient power: Evaluation of pressure-retarded osmosis and reverse electrodialysis
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376738806007575
Pressure-retarded osmosis for power generation from salinity gradients: is it viable?
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2016/ee/c5ee02985f
Norway’s Osmotic Power A Salty Solution to the World’s Energy Needs?
https://www.waterworld.com/home/article/16201793/norways-osmotic-power-a-salty-solution-to-the-worlds-energy-needs
Five popular misconceptions about osmosis
https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/article-abstract/80/8/694/1057545/Five-popular-misconceptions-about-osmosis
Biological-Physics-Energy–Information–Life.pdf
https://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/conteudo_thumb/Biological-Physics-Energy–Information–Life.pdf
Proper NPT Threads Installation
24393943-MIT.pdf
https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/29859/24393943-MIT.pdf
What drives osmosis?
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00701005
Energy generation from mixing salt water and fresh water: smart flow strategies for reverse electrodialysis
https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/energy-generation-from-mixing-salt-water-and-fresh-water-smart-fl
Derivation of the Theoretical Minimum Energy of Separation of Desalination Processes
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c01194
Simple Candy Osmosis Experiment
https://www.thoughtco.com/simple-candy-osmosis-experiment-609190
Nature of Solvent Transfer in Osmosis
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.126.3267.252
Experimental Study of the Independence of Diffusion and Hydrodynamic Permeability Coefficients in Collodion Membranes | Journal of General Physiology
https://rupress.org/jgp/article-abstract/43/3/523/31599/Experimental-Study-of-the-Independence-of
Biological-Physics-Energy–Information–Life.pdf
https://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/conteudo_thumb/Biological-Physics-Energy–Information–Life.pdf
Recent development in salinity gradient power
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1282847
Thermodynamic and Energy Efficiency Analysis of Power Generation from Natural Salinity Gradients by Pressure Retarded Osmosis
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es300060m
THE ENTRANCE OF WATER INTO BEEF AND DOG RED CELLS
https://rupress.org/jgp/article-abstract/42/2/355/12665/THE-ENTRANCE-OF-WATER-INTO-BEEF-AND-DOG-RED-CELLS
Polymeric Membranes for Medical Applications
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cite.200306149
The world’s first osmotic power plant from Statkraft
https://web.archive.org/web/20110812024125/http://www.gizmag.com/statkraft-osmotic-power/13451/
Is PRO economically feasible? Not according to Statkraft
https://www.forwardosmosistech.com/statkraft-discontinues-investments-in-pressure-retarded-osmosis-2/
Commercial Pressure Retarded Osmosis Systems for Seawater Desalination Plants
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7835981/
Statkraft halts osmotic power investments
https://www.statkraft.com/newsroom/news-and-stories/2013/Statkraft-halts-osmotic-power-investments/
Theoretical and Experimental Investigations of the Potential of Osmotic Energy for Power Production
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/4/3/447
River-to-sea pressure retarded osmosis: Resource utilization in a full-scale facility
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0011916416300091
Osmotic power – Statkraft
https://www.youtu.be/watch?v=u5VBIYNBaDk
Producing Emission-Free Energy
https://www.youtu.be/watch?v=IePkoGQGCQw
Levelized Cost of Energy: https://www.lazard.com/research-insights/levelized-cost-of-energyplus/
