Environment: Solar plant yields water and crops from the desert

· Green energy glasshouses may transform arid areas
· Fresh water will end need to dig wells, say architects

The Sahara forest project will use seawater and solar power to grow food in greenhouses across the desert. Photograph: Exploration Architecture















Pawlyn said: “In places like Oman they’ve effectively sterilised large areas of land by using groundwater that’s become increasingly saline. The beauty of the Sahara Forest scheme is that you can reverse that process and turn barren land into biologically productive land.”

Neil Crumpton, an energy specialist at Friends of the Earth, said the potential of these desert technologies was huge. “Concentrated solar power mirror arrays covering just 1% of the Earth’s deserts could supply a fifth of all current global energy consumption. And 1 million tonnes of sea water could be evaporated every day from just 20,000ha of greenhouses.”

Governments should invest in the technologies and “not be distracted by lobbyists promoting dangerous nuclear power or nuclear-powered desalination schemes”, Crumpton added.


Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
The Guardian, Wednesday September 3 2008

Source: The Guardian

1 thought on “Environment: Solar plant yields water and crops from the desert”

  1. Given the wonders of modern technology, including Solar powered gas pressure sealed system refrigeration ( still a state secret in the U.S.) commonly found in small hospitals in Africa, The power of Solar distillation, Solar/steam electric power generation and Solar Electricity by photovoltaic cells, any place with lots of sunlight becomes “Energy Blessed”, especially desert regions, where any small gain is significant and the supply of sun is infinite. The days of cheap oil are gone, mankind embarks on the last frontier, Solar energy, in its many forms yet to conform to our needs and wishes. As we watch the American “cheap oil” era die away the world faces a new time, a time of clean abundant power wherever the sun shines, and must adjust its demands accordingly. Life will go on, just not in America, and certainly not extravagant as Americans need for survival, where each living soul required acres of arable land to provide meat for dinner, and the worlds oil resources for transportation. The rest of the people of the modern world live moderately enough to appreciate the new, clean energies, and will apply them towards a frugal, efficient lifestyle, maintaining low body sizes and weights, thereby not overtaxing the whole of the system. Good Bye Yankee Doodle, you were great entertainment while you lasted and we, the poor people of the world will miss your fat asses in our skinny faces and your military force up our asses, but not for long.

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