Don’t think of arid expanses like the Sahara as desolate wastelands. Think of them as near-infinite sources of clean power. In six daylight hours, Earth’s deserts soak up more energy than humanity uses in a year. Now an unlikely consortium of politicians, scientists, and economists from around the Mediterranean has a plan to harness it. “Desertec” would involve hundreds of square miles of wind and solar plants in the world’s deserts, hooked into electrical grids to funnel reliable, renewable, and affordable power to more sun-challenged regions. Planners are hoping to get solar power flowing from North Africa to Europe first.
An estimated 1,300 square miles of North African desert could handle 20 percent of Europe’s energy needs by 2050.
“All of what’s necessary to realize the Desertec concept is already there,” the foundation’s codirector, Thiemo Gropp, says. As with most massive infrastructure projects, the biggest challenges are political. North African leaders see Desertec as a job creator, but the Arab Spring left investors uncertain about the region’s long-term stability. Europe’s economic crisis has drained public works funding, and the continent is a tangle of incompatible power grids and regulations.
Still, the Desertec concept could travel. Ninety percent of the world’s population lives within 1,800 miles of a desert. China’s cities could be powered by the Gobi; South America could run lines from the Atacama. Where there’s light, there’s hope.
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