Comments on: World’s Largest Solar Project Planned for Saharan Desert

By: Arunjansi

Arunjansi — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 04:08:09 +0000

Hi.. By using 1% of heat energy from Sahara desert we can supply electricity to the whole world. So create awareness abt the Solar & Wind energy to all.

By: FutureDreams

FutureDreams — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:56:59 +0000

Thanks for this enlighting article & comments. My thoughts;
1. Desertec currently has no political clout in Europe to make this happen and it will be very challenging to peacefully manage African political interests.
2. Well managed this concept would be win-win for the world, and it must start asap if Europe and Africa are to secure their energy supplies and our environment beyond 2050.
3. Issues such as sand storms, mine clearance, building water pipes/desalination, transmission lines are relatively minor roadblocks compared with… landing men on the moon, building a bullet train from Beijing-London and Singapore (on track for 2025!), Creating underwater intercontinental fiber optic data networks, curing diseases, harnessing solar power etc….
That said, intangible costs are underestimated – 800bn Euros is probably more realistic than 400!
4. Floating Solar Panels is probably a non-starter logistically as it is not currently scalable. Nice for small scale use though.
Using this articles numbers (0.3% of Sahara for ~300million energy hungry europeans) 1.2% of an empty Saharan desert would be less than 0.2% of the landmass in Europe and enough too power two continents of people, not bad I say.
5. MIT/Cambridge are making progress in commercialising Photosynthesis based solar tech to boost efficiency rates, new tech can be applied to later phases for development so less land is used.

P.S. I’m in China at the moment and I’m so pleased to have stumbled on this article while surfing (it wasn’t blocked!). China’s number of english speakers is burgeoning so I hope information like this will help apply pressure to increase the momentum of their renewable efforts, they have hydro projects but their biggest solar project (in Mongolia) will only supply 1 million homes by 2019. There’s probably 700m homes in china’s population of 1.4billion

By: ali müfit

ali müfit — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 02:38:52 +0000

elde edilen konsantre ışığı fiber optik kablolar ile taşınma düşünülüyor mu

By: Israeli Company Develops Floating Solar Panels | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:12:25 +0000

[...] of the main drawbacks of major solar projects is that they require huge areas of land in which solar fields can be constructed. Take the Desertec [...]

By: lisarojer

lisarojer — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 12:00:38 +0000

project like this are really beneficial for country and community as it produce lots of job opportunities and helps in stopping illegal immigration………….

By: South Africa Unveils Plans For 5GW Solar Field | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:49:28 +0000

[...] power holds for providing the world’s energy, and it comes as no surprise that there are massive solar projects such as the Desertec being developed. Not wanting to be left out in the cold, South Africa just [...]

By: Nory Bshina

Nory Bshina — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:28:45 +0000

Projects like these will bring many benefits to many countries in the region , the most important is the development of the area around it ,stop illegal immigration find food and jobs for the poor in the area who struggling to stay alive ,and would take any chance to travel north ,for the northern countries the benefits is even greater , since they can forget about the pollution and nuclear risks or shortage of oil supply, I think it is the best project for all

By: Solar Energy from the Sahara Could be Imported To Europe Within 5 Years | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:56:27 +0000

[...] energy from the Sahara within the next five years. The news comes after the Desertec Initiative was announced last year, which sets a long-term plan of about 40 [...]

By: mydogscalledjack

mydogscalledjack — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:55:56 +0000

I agree this looks great on paper but I thought the preferred solution was to decentralise/localise energy production partly as a means of democratising energy? The massive issues of transmission are then sidestepped. You talk of political stability – but in many countries that is transient, and by centralising the production source you present terrorists with an easy and irresistable target. The technology is proven but the size and unnecessary complexity of this project may actually delay its take up and provides an excuse not to take difficult decisions now.

By: trysts

trysts — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:04:25 +0000

At the moment, there are 22 million unexploded devices buried around the peripheries of the Western desert as a result of Italian, German and British operations during WW2. 8,000 Bedouins have been killed since 1945. Furthermore, there are vast resources of natural gas which the Egyptian government can not tap because of this lethal ordnance. Clearance would provide 1.5 million jobs shifting people away from the crowded areas of the Nile. The world has deemed mine clearance too expensive as there are no maps; moreover, mines can shift 60 metres per year under the sand. Since Desertec aims to build their plants on the seaward edges of the Sahara, I wonder whether they will consider mine clearance?

By: Umesh yadav

Umesh yadav — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:56:00 +0000

Hi sir i am final year student diploma in mechnical engineering .i am make the project for solar pump.we are creat the problem of selection of solar panel.we are select the 24 volt DC Moter and 12 volt two battery 32 mA each. how many watt solar panel suitable for this project plz help me.

By: BeyondRenewableNRG4CaptialAccumulation

BeyondRenewableNRG4CaptialAccumulation — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:56:20 +0000

Has anyone noticed that this wreaks of Eurpean colonialism? Does anyone remember the rush for resources that created the dependancy of African nations on the politically and economically powerful states of the North/West? What percentage of this vast energy resource will reach the homes of African people and contribute to their economy? And in reference to Labman’s comment on ‘Iraq-style’, I assume that regime change will be required to ensure the political stability discussed in the article; I suppose we should install a puppet government to ensure the benefits are confined to Imperial states??

By: a random guy

a random guy — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:42:42 +0000

how are they getting money to put pipes to europe that wil probaly be more money than it would be to make the mirrors and stuff.

By: vaibhav

vaibhav — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:49:31 +0000

tell me about this in detail with picture n how is will be work…………

By: gregory oser

gregory oser — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:26:07 +0000

Where are they gonna get the water from?

By: Bridgette Meinhold

Bridgette Meinhold — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:15:40 +0000

Hi Labman,
Thanks for noticing the typo. Just corrected it.
As for your if’s, while I definitely think those are issues, I think the largest issue is cooperation. That’s a lot of countries with different political agendas to get to work together. Everyone will want something for free. Having worked with this technology a number of years ago, it’s not like the mirrors need to be cleaned every day, but still they do need a wipe down and that means at least a few jobs for trained locals in the area, which to me is a good thing.
Thanks for reading.

By: labman

labman — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:41:37 +0000

Note that the article mentions Siemens (misspelled as ‘Seimans’) as a lead industrial partner. The once-mighty Siemens has in recent years sold off all divisions of industrial value, and these days Siemens is living off utilizing political connections to channel taxpayer funds their way in governmental projects. They would not be able to sell anything in a free market. All projects where Siemens is involved are highly suspect in my view.

The concept itself is great and makes perfect sense if:
- There is reasonable assurances that hosting countries would squeeze it financially. This aspect can be managed Iraq-style, but those costs should be included in the planning.
- The cleaning of mirror surfaces is resolved – many studies forget this aspect. How often do these surfaces need cleaning? The costs of building needed water pipes from sea must be included.
- The building of transmission lines is planned and financed. To minimize losses it needs high voltage DC lines, not the ones used currently. It is feasible to build, but the effort is major – comparable to building new trans-continental highways.

Without above questions answered, it could be just an exercise of pleasing Siemens & partners, while disappointing consumers. I hope that will not turn out to be the case.

By: Christos Papageorgiou

Christos Papageorgiou — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:01:10 +0000

Photo Voltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power Plants (CSP) are very expensive for large scale application in deserts. I believe that the low cost alternative of Solar Updraft Tower named “Floating Solar Chimney Technology” is the appropriate technology for deserts (See http://www.floatingsolarchimney.gr ) The following table shortly gives an idea about cost figures:

By: Alternative Green Technologies

Alternative Green Technologies — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:04:34 +0000

Wow, that is one of the most amazing things I've seen in a while. I'll definitely be writing about this on our Green Technology Blog If they can find a way to get this done, I think we are on a very good path to oil independence. Are they any plans to harness the power of the US desert space?

By: renedegroot

renedegroot — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:13:07 +0000

An interesting documentary on this subject from
the Netherlands public broadcasting network VPRO,
Here Comes the Sun;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLHBFyfvK8A&feature=channel_page