Saharan sun's solar power could provide Europe's electricity

[arno]

Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission's Institute for Energy, said it would require the capture of just 0.3% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts to meet all of Europe's energy needs.

Solar power from Saharan sun could provide Europe's electricity, says EU | Environment | The Guardian

[LMagic007]

More info here;

The DESERTEC Concept and the Studies

The future is today.

[include]

Seen this kind of thing bandied about a few times. Hopefully sometime the technology and economics will converge to make it happen.

[LMagic007]

Indeed. Big ideas usually take time to evolve into reality, obviously as much more planning and ground work work has to be done.

[Wowbagger]

There's so much we could do in the sahara. Personnally, I'd like to see a very large complex of greenhouses housing large fields of plants, recolted by robotic harms, and producing enough food for billions of people.

One can dream...

[LMagic007]

Yes there is great potential if we aspire to high environmental standards. The one thing that concerns me about the nature of man is this seeming obsession with bigger is better industrial growth at all costs. The way our economies are linked to unsustainable long term growth sometimes scares me, when you consider the vested public interested in this monstrosity of an infrastructure we have created that dominates our lives and largely defines our very existence and yet to now see the fragility of the system we have depended on for years, showing its cracks. Anyway back on topic, and talking about sustainability and adopting technologies that could make it so, such as solar energy etc.. Yes I agree DESERTEC could have great potential and really I do think its the way of the future. We are all going to have to learn to live on less and marry that with the emerging renewable energy technologies that might just help save us in the end. I guess they call it evolution on all fronts.

[Besoeker]

Originally Posted by include

Seen this kind of thing bandied about a few times. Hopefully sometime the technology and economics will converge to make it happen.

And the politics.

[hoon]

Originally Posted by Besoeker

And the politics.

I would think that's the main barrier. Not sure I really want to rely on some of those governments for my power.

[LMagic007]

Originally Posted by hoon

I would think that's the main barrier. Not sure I really want to rely on some of those governments for my power.

With regard too nations dependency on foreign energy, the world is already at the mercy of foreign politics and government instability, combined with a dwindling supply of cheap oil. I don't think any country would be stupid enough to solely rely on one source of energy. It doesn't really matter. Those countries that choose to buy imported electricity will do so and those that would rather not who can find alternatives, won't. I suspect though in the longer term, the reality will eventually be too good to refuse. i.e. cheaper energy prices than fossil fuelled and other non renewable competition. Additionally I would expect that the west nations would not hesitate to intervene militarily if they felt that foreign electricity supplies provided by a second or third world nation were at risk. Most of us in the developed world are simply too addicted to energy nowadays.

[LMagic007]

PS News Break. It's time for our regular news feed; "An attack on a Nigerian oil pipeline has pushed oil above $124 a barrel." ABC news 28 Jul 2008.