Community | September 02, 2008 | 24 comments

Incredible Sahara Forest Project could generate fresh water, solar power, and crops

source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/sahara-forest-project.php

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Can you imagine being able to produce enough water in the Sahara to grow crops there? Can you imagine harnessing sufficient quantities of solar power to supply electricity to cities in Africa and cities in Europe? Can you imagine producing a sustainable bio-fuel that doesn’t impact on world food supplies? Charlie Paton, Michael Pawlyn and Bill Watts can and what’s more they can imagine all these happening in the same place at the same time.

This week this trio of visionaries launched the Sahara Forest Project: their proposal to combine two innovative technologies, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Seawater Greenhouses, to produce renewable energy, water and food in an area of desert known to be one of the hottest places on earth.

Multitasking renewable solutions
It has often been said that there will be no one solution to solving the climate crisis and all those issues that surround it, such as energy sources, food prices and water supply. We need a portfolio of technologies to help us to combat these advancing problems. The Sahara Forest Project is one of the first projects we’ve seen that proposes not only to combine technologies to optimise performance and production, but also aims to tackle all of the serious challenges mentioned above. It is a bold and ambitious plan that, if realised, could have a powerful positive impact not only for the Sahara region, but also for Europe and the rest of the world.

Positive Collaboration
The most exciting aspect of the Sahara Forest Project is not specifically the use of these technologies. We’ve read about Seawater Greenhouses and Concentrated Solar Power and how they’re being used to great effect. It is the fact that they are being used together in the same place, to support each other and optimize their operating capacities to produce energy and water and by proxy vegetation.

This sense of collaboration is echoed in the team of people behind the proposal: an inventor - Charlie Paton, creator of the Seawater Greenhouse; an architect - Michael Pawlyn of Exploration Architecture, previously of Grimshaw and the lead architect on the iconic Eden Project; an engineer - Bill Watts of Max Fordham & Partners, an engineering firm that focuses on energy efficient systems for the built environment. These three men have brought their considerable expertise together to create a truly innovative proposal.

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24 comments // Incredible Sahara Forest Project could generate fresh water, solar power, and crops

  • mes_s1a
  • arturogarza
  • SDLN
  • Beta_Boy
    • 0
      Beta_Boy  

    • I hope this actually comes to fruition. It is the sort of project that looks like it would drown in red tape and in fighting.

    • 3 years ago
  • schobiz
    • 0
      schobiz  

    • It will be our job to decipher between technologies that hold the potential for success and those which would appeal as trendy corporate pawns.

      Let's also hope that these changes come from our consciousness and not some external source that allows us to continue consuming irresponsibly.

    • 3 years ago
  • justright
    • 0
      justright  

    • Although I like the concept, I wonder and worry about pulling water from other places, and upsetting more natural balances. It's definitely an idea worth looking into though (maybe small scale first).

    • 3 years ago
  • jade_azul16
  • fiat_lux088
    • 0
      fiat_lux088  

    • I don't see this as an awful thing to do. I figure the Amazon will become the next Sahara if were not careful. This is an experiment worth trying since we are running out of options and time.

    • 3 years ago
  • pirho338
    • 0
      pirho338  

    • I actually think this is not such a good idea. Think of our planet as one big chain of ecosystem, every part depends on the others. It sounds like a good idea to make use of this semmingly wasted space, but if you take one link out of the chain, another that depends on it will be screwed. I think a better use of resources would be to restore what we have destroyed instead of recreating it where it doesnt belong. The world evolved the way it did for a reason, we cant just rearrange it in hopes to try and force it to cooperate. Seems like something that sounds great on paper, but is actually a bit pretentious on our part as human beings, and might even make things worse....?

    • 3 years ago
  • jade_azul16
  • schobiz
    • 0
      schobiz  
    • pirho338:

      You bring up a good point. I expect to see many trendy technological solutions in the coming years. While they might appeal as quick fixes, it will be very important to decipher which ideas have the promise of longevity and low-impact on our fragile planet.

      I do think though that a radical change will be required to both fix our current problems and mend what we can of our previous. Hopefully this change will come from our consciousness and not from some external source that will allow us to continue consuming as we do.

    • 3 years ago
  • CreditFigaro
    • 0
      CreditFigaro  
    • pirho338:

      I agree with your caution, but think it is somewhat misplaced.

      If we were to start converting huge areas of desert in this way, it is likely that the implicit affects on the surrounding ecosystem would become apparent in the small area that is converted, and taken into account before massive expansion.

      Think about it: the point at which we are able to satiate the global population's food requirements and the point at which we run out of desert are WAAYYYY far apart.

      I'm not geologist, but there aren't any significant foreseeable consequences except the possibility of narrowing the populations of creatures who frequent the desert. Then again, the area is almost dead as it is because of the salt content.

      Essentially this really isn't that different than farming grassland, or irrigating fields during dry season. It's just farming, and that didn't ruin the USA.

    • 3 years ago
  • pirho338
    • 0
      pirho338  
    • pirho338:

      hmm I dont think we have the ability to forsee every consequence of any action we take. We dont know everything, and optimism can be quite blinding...I mean look at what we were doing to environments 50 years ago, we didnt think then that they would have any serious consequences, and just because we know a bit more now, doesnt mean we know enough.

    • 3 years ago
  • NickerBocker09
    • 0
      NickerBocker09  

    • I think ideas like this have been around for a while, its just the technology weve been waiting for to actually do it. Glad to see its finally arrived, and can only get better.

    • 3 years ago
  • aspenlve
    • 0
      aspenlve  

    • wow, cool sounding project. love to see if this comes to fruition. it's innovators like this that will help shape our future.

    • 3 years ago
  • gentjim
  • petarro
    • 0
      petarro  

    • Incredible Sahara Forest Project could generate fresh water, solar power, and crops. Still, no kissing in Public, Gays and Prostitutes will be stoned to death.

      Thanks for the Petrol Payers in the World. Yes, you may visit us under strict Laws only.

    • 3 years ago
  • CreditFigaro
  • tomtapper
  • EddieStarr
    • 0
      EddieStarr  

    • Innovative, and extremely practical, the Sahara Forest Project seems like an all around excellent solution for energy and sustainable living.

    • 3 years ago
  • SeaJade
  • love_is_my_religion
  • Technogeek
  • bishopobispo
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