Is Desert Solar Power the Solution to Europes Energy Crisis?
– A tiny fraction of the sun’s energy that shines upon the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East could meet all of Europe’s electricity demands. The technology to harness the energy already exists. So why is hardly anyone investing in it? The oil of the 21st century is not buried deep within the earth. Instead, it falls on its surface — as sunshine. “The sun is the hidden asset of North Africa and the Middle East,” says Gerhard Knies, a spokesman for the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), a network of scientists and politicians from various countries who have taken it upon themselves to solve Europe’s energy problem. Their vision, which they call Desertec, is to turn desert sun into electricity, thereby harnessing inexhaustible, clean and affordable energy. “We don’t have an energy problem,” says Hans Müller-Steinhagen, of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). “We have an energy conversion and distribution problem.” Müller-Steinhagen has been commissioned by G
