Solar arrays in Sahara could power all Europe
"ALL of Europe's energy needs could be supplied by building an array of solar panels in the Sahara desert, a climate change conference has been told.
Technological advances combined with falling costs have made it realistic to consider North Africa as Europe's main source of imported energy. By harnessing the power of the sun, possibly in tandem with wind farms along the North African coastline, Europe could easily meet its 2020 target of generating at least 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources.
'It (North Africa) could supply Europe with all the energy it needs,' Anthony Patt, of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, in Austria, told scientists. 'The sun is very strong there and it is very reliable.
'There is a growing number of cost estimates of both wind and concentrated solar power for North Africa that start to compare favourably with alternative technologies.'
Dr Patt said only a fraction of the Sahara, probably the size of a small country, needed to be covered to extract enough energy to supply the whole of Europe. Solar power uses mirrors to focus the sun's rays at a thin pipe containing either water or salt. The rays boil the water or turn the salt molten and the energy is extracted by using the heat to power turbines.
Trials of concentrated solar power are being planned for Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Dubai. Libya and Tunisia could also be considered.
Receiving energy from North Africa would, the conference heard, reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The constant source of energy would also mean Europe relied less on Russia and the Middle East for fuel."
Move the energy czars from the Arabian peninsula to the Sahara?
"ALL of Europe's energy needs could be supplied by building an array of solar panels in the Sahara desert, a climate change conference has been told.
Technological advances combined with falling costs have made it realistic to consider North Africa as Europe's main source of imported energy. By harnessing the power of the sun, possibly in tandem with wind farms along the North African coastline, Europe could easily meet its 2020 target of generating at least 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources.
'It (North Africa) could supply Europe with all the energy it needs,' Anthony Patt, of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, in Austria, told scientists. 'The sun is very strong there and it is very reliable.
'There is a growing number of cost estimates of both wind and concentrated solar power for North Africa that start to compare favourably with alternative technologies.'
Dr Patt said only a fraction of the Sahara, probably the size of a small country, needed to be covered to extract enough energy to supply the whole of Europe. Solar power uses mirrors to focus the sun's rays at a thin pipe containing either water or salt. The rays boil the water or turn the salt molten and the energy is extracted by using the heat to power turbines.
Trials of concentrated solar power are being planned for Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Dubai. Libya and Tunisia could also be considered.
Receiving energy from North Africa would, the conference heard, reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The constant source of energy would also mean Europe relied less on Russia and the Middle East for fuel."
Move the energy czars from the Arabian peninsula to the Sahara?
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