The Desertec Initiative announced two years ago its intentions to harness the power of the sun in the Sahara Desert. Now, the project is moving forward, with plans for the first construction to break ground in 2012. The 500-megawatt concentrated solar power plant (CSP) will cost a cool $2.8 billion and harness the power of the sun from the desert of Morocco. Desertec is a projected half-trillion dollar solar project that will occupy parts of the Sahara, the Middle East, and Europe. The potential for the project is great — if completed, it could produce enough electricity to meet 15-20 percent of Europe’s energy demand by 2050 while providing power to the Middle East and Northern Africa as well.
The ambitious green project has been in talks over the past few years, gaining support from leading companies and institutions across Europe, including the Desertec Foundation, Deutsche Bank, HSH Nordbank, and other financial and energy groups. The breaking news of the power plant in Morocco is the first exciting step in realizing the project. Coinciding with the EU’s pledge to derive at least 20 percent of their energy from renewable resources, they have turned to the Sahara’s immense, untapped solar power. The Moroccan power plant will commence with a 150-megawatt, 7.4 square mile solar plant, costing $822 million. It is the first step in completing the 500-megawatt project, and it will take 2-4 years to complete, starting next year.
Scientists at the Desertec Industrial Initiative remind us that our vast deserts get enough sun to power the world for a year in just SIX HOURS! Covering only 0.3 percent of the desert with solar panels could power all of Europe. The Desertec project is an important step in weaning the world off of fossil fuels and onto the bounty of renewable energy available.
+ Desertec Industrial Initiative
Via CleanTechnica
How ironic, that here in the US, we squandered (and continue to squander) trillions of dollars on illegal and inhumane unnecessary wars. What did we get for this money spent (that we mostly borrowed from foreign entities)? A wrecked economy. More income disparity. A country embroiled in continual wars, all during continual recession.
Instead, had we had leadership (which we still are lacking in most of our federal “leaders”), we could have spent some of those trillions on building out the necessary energy system for this country based on carbonless renewables. All the technology is fully here to implement right now, right here. This would mean Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) in our desert states, which would also solve their potable water problem in the desert cities. Algae oil farms also in the desert, using sea water, to run the nations fleet of diesel trains and trucks. Wave and tidal power on the coasts, and large wind in the off shore west and east coasts as well as in the wind corridor from Texas to the Dakotas. This would bring full national employment. Fair living wages with benefits. And, the money saved by not buying fossil fuels from outside the country could fund a single payer national healthcare system. Medicare for all.