Exploring the Applications of Atmospheric Water Harvesting Technologies: A Scoping Review

Water is an indispensable resource for all living organisms yet safe drinking water is only accessible to 25% of the world's population. An innovative technology that can address water scarcity concerns is atmospheric water harvesting (AWH). This technology produces potable freshwater from the atmosphere using a variety of methods. Due to the varying maturity level of different AWH methods, literature on the topic remains disjointed. This scoping review explores various AWH technologies and compares the freshwater yield, energy efficiency and integration of renewable energy sources with the different systems. The review incorporates Bibliometrix software and the PRISMA-Scr reporting method to obtain an eligible database of papers and to analyse research trends respectively. The analysis found that the field of research is expanding exponentially and that most applications are focused on the development of innovative sorption materials. Other methods such as condensation based AWH and fog harvesting feature less in literature due to the relative maturity of the technology. The yield and energy efficiency of the different systems vary greatly, and solar energy is the most popular source of renewable energy. Singular instances of other renewable sources used with AWH are mentioned, but not implied to be commercially viable yet. The implications of this research inform the AWH technologies' placement on the technology adoption lifecycle, hinting towards widespread future adoption as an environmentally sustainable freshwater resource. The research further implies that policies surrounding AWH should aim to standardize water quality and other key performance metrics of AWH systems.