The Sahara desert probably has one of the worst climates anywhere on the planet. Its too dry and too hot for anything to survive. But these very factors could be used for making it into the biggest boon for mankind. The European Union has already proposed massive Saharan solar installations and infrastructure, including a €45B supergrid, which could take advantage of the intense sunlight to power the entire EU.

The plan is to use concentrated solar power (CSP), a high yield type of solar power, to power seawater evaporators to obtain freshwater. The installation also powers pumps which pipe cool, damp air into the greenhouses lowering the temperature up to 15 degrees Celsius. This allows sun-loving plants such as lettuces, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. The greenhouse would produce demineralized water, which could be used to keep the CSP panels in top working order. The waste heat from the CSP could be recaptured to evaporate even more seawater.

The project already has two working demo plants in Tenerife, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. It says that for ?5m it can build 20 hectares of greenhouse and a 10 MW CSP installation to power it. At these relatively low costs, many Middle Eastern countries are expressing interest in the self-sustaining system.

Perhaps thats exactly what the Middle-East could do once the oil runs out. They could very well become the power and food providers to the world.

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