Willingness to adopt the best that tech has to offer has paved the way for a swift digital transition, and the development of smart ecosystems in the Middle East. This zeal for innovation is also being channeled towards the development of sustainable tools, that can ramp up availability of water and food in the region.

Saudi Arabia recently made news with plans for a desalination plant that uses energy from the sun and wind to extract drinkable water from the sea, while cutting down emissions. In a similar move, researchers from the kingdom have joined their peers in China, to create a device which can provide fresh water as well as clean power, without producing toxic waste.

Tailored for significantly reducing environmental impact, the mechanism will consist of a solar panel, mounted on a device meant for multistage distillation. The process will recycle excess heat from the solar cells which create electricity, and divert it for evaporating sea water to trigger desalination.

This method of reusing heat that would usually get wasted, brings down the high energy requirements commonly associated with the process of clearing salt from sea water. But even after the vapour is condensed to extract drinkable water, the heat left behind is redirected for another round of desalination.

Using heat repeatedly to create fresh water, while generating electricity from solar panels at the same time, naturally scales up efficiency.

But after desalination is complete, a mixture of water and salt called concentrated brine is left behind, which may contain toxic chemicals that can affect the environment. To address this issue, the device uses heat from previous stages for another cycle of evaporation, which pulls out the liquid and leaves only solid salt behind.

The process which cuts down wastage and yields maximum resources, is in line with Saudi Arabia's green push, which also involves development of clean fuels.

In the gulf region, the kingdom's neighbour UAE has also been selected as ground zero for testing a system that converts air into fresh water.