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Solar power from Saharan sun could provide Europe's electricity, says EU
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by Erik Larson | August 15, 2008 at 05:47 pm
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Solar power from Saharan sun could provide Europe's electricity, says EU
uploaded by Erik Larson
A tiny rectangle superimposed on the vast expanse of the Sahara captures the seductive appeal of the audacious plan to cut Europe's carbon emissions by harnessing the fierce power of the desert sun.
Dwarfed by any of the north African nations, it represents an area slightly smaller than Wales but scientists claimed yesterday it could one day generate enough solar energy to supply all of Europe with clean electricity.
Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, Arnulf Jaeger-Waldau 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.
The scientists are calling for the creation of a series of huge solar farms - producing electricity either through photovoltaic cells, or by concentrating the sun's heat to boil water and drive turbines - as part of a plan to share Europe's renewable energy resources across the continent.
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Erik Larson
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 18:06 on August 15th, 2008
Solar power from the Sahara could power the world according to resource experts. It's just not feasible at this point.
at 00:03 on August 19th, 2008
i bet if the 2+ Trillion that is getting blown up and stolen by the Iraq War on research and development, the feasibility would be a lot more realizable than it may presently be. Plus, over a million lives and brains dead, that could've helped do the work. Hopefully, We the People will find a way of getting government's priorities straight- soon.
at 00:50 on August 16th, 2008
Erik Larson, I like this story. The "secret solar plan for Europe 2050" from the Sahara is based on german plans, got long time attacked. Amazing after the series of Nuclear incidents in France, The French president Sarkozy and Gordon Brown suddenly supported the solar sahara plan july-23 2008 at the Barcelona conference. Finally it is the independance plan from russian oil/gas, see the attack on the Baku-Tbilisi-Cahan "Georgia oil pipline". I am happy you write about this historic time document. Found not much attention in the press.
FYI the Weblink to similar ACCIONA - Nevada Solar One
at 22:16 on August 18th, 2008
Thanks Erik Larson for the story!
There is a good article about the sahara solar plan at Spiegel Online.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,550544,00.html
Check out the Photo Gallery there, especially this Photo:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-31097-9.html#backToArticle=550544
I can´t understand why this "secret" plan did not found the attention in the press as it deserve.
It could be THE solution to energy problems and i think it is only a matter of time people understand this.
But how could they understand if nobody report about this?
This plan could not only solve the energy problem, but also help to solve the water problem in Africa.
"As a side benefit, the arid countries of North Africa and the Middle East could use some of the energy they produce to power salt water desalination plants, which could produce much-needed drinking water."
What more do you want?
at 00:06 on August 19th, 2008
that's what i want!!! It's becoming news more and more, renewable energy is the future. It's too bad it's taking illegal wars and gas prices to wake people up to the potential.