http://discovermagazine.com/2011/sep/26-power-people-plugging-into-sahara
The Sahara Desert is one of the most avoided places on the planet, but now it seems that all eyes are on it now that it could be possible to supply all of Earth’s energy needs. Introducing Europe’s DESERTEC, the plan to create vast fields of solar thermal collectors in the Sahara Desert in order to supply energy needs through solar and wind power. DESERTEC could be the key to cutting down fossil fuels and not get in the way of many inhabitants since the Sahara Desert is sparsely populated. The only problem with DESERTEC is the massive scale it demands—it would require new transmission lines to run through politically unstable areas and then it would be expensive to maintain the cost for having the energy to travel thousands of miles to its destination. If it is possible for these areas to remain neutral just to build DESERTEC, we could possibly make one of the most avoided places on Earth to one of the most helpful.
Did the article make any mention to how they planned to secure the area of political unrest to build these transmission lines?
ReplyDeleteNo, the article does not mention how these areas will be procured. I believe that DESERTEC will probably be put on hold due to some of the conflicts in the area (From Libya’s Civil War or the abundance of conflicts in Israel). Diplomacy sounds it could be the only solution to the area but if some of these countries can’t handle local diplomacy, then I have little hopes from outside interference. This is very unfortunate, since some countries would rather just destroy each other than to make a compromise and help every other country in the world with reliable, safe energy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like this could be an effective solution to energy problems, and hopefully the hurdles facing progress on this front can be cleared soon. Having said that, if I were in the middle of those conflicts, the last thing I would be worrying about is other foreigners wanting to build through the land. I wouldn't expect the situation to resolve itself very quickly.
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