With all the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, the momentum of public opinion is again gathering for “Green Energy” alternatives to fossil fuels.   Energy generation techniques that harness solar, wind, tidal, chemical, and nuclear renewable resources have all garnered massive sums of money for research and development.  Solar panels, in particular, have vastly improved from just a few year ago in both efficiency and application, yet still remain too expensive for mass production.

We’ve seen some wacky solar power plant proposals, but this would top them all  if it wasn’t actually being implemented – although not necessarily in a bad way if it actually works.  Through a foundation called Desertec, the European Union in conjunction with several private entities is sponsoring the construction of several pilot solar power plants across the sun-laden Sahara Desert in an effort to supplement its electrical power requirements in the coming decades.

“The European Union is backing projects to turn the plentiful sunlight in the Sahara desert into electricity for power-hungry Europe, a scheme it hopes will help meet its target of deriving 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020.” — Reuters

After 2020 as more plants come online through funding and revenues from the import of electricity, the percentage of Europe’s energy supplied by this project could exceed this estimate.  With almost constant daytime sun exposure, the Sahara Desert – which is usually considered a barren wasteland, has an almost limitless supply of energy into which no one has tapped.

Europe is not the only continent that will benefit from this project.  The African nations participating in these trials stand to gain substantial knowledge through the transfer of technology and expertise during construction and maintenance of the infrastructure being built to generate and transport this electricity across the Mediterranean Sea.  This is in addition to the sale of electricity through carefully crafted treaties and contracts.

Here’s an example of the type of solar power plant being built.  Maybe if there’s some electricity left over, they can beam it to us.  We definitely need it.

[Via:  Reuters]