Made in Germany | Desertec - Electricity from the Desert for Europe

The idea of tapping into the power of the sun over the Sahara desert and using it to provide Europe with energy is a brilliant one. Now 20 large German companies want to get together and turn it into reality with investments of several hundred billion euros.The aim of the project is to build solar power plants in the desert and then transport the electricity produced there over the Mediterranean,turning North Africa into an energy exporter. Many big German companies have agreed to participate,including the electricity giant EON,engineering firm Siemens,the reinsurer Munich Re,Deutsche Bank and solar power plant makers Solarmillenium. They want to meet on 13 July for an exploratory session. Germany is keen to cut emissions,so this desert electricity project fits well into the scheme of things. But it's a project with lots of unknowns. Made in Germany reporter Joachim Eggers asks Siemens,Solarmillenium and the founder of the Desertec project,physicist Gerhard Knies,if it is really technically possible to provide all of Europe's electricity needs with solar power from the Sahara. And who is really going to benefit?

• Category

  News & Politics

[PaulHartXYZ]

Wouldn't it be nice someday to tell the Saudis, Iranians and Russians to GO TO HELL with their oil

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE NOW.

[jihadito]

ok live in germany but i m moroccan, i think it s good idea but you will dependent from us .:D

[TheAberbach]

well you cant have everything can you ? or maybe its just part of a big scheme to force you to work and cooperate with other nations instead of shooting at them

[claudio redel]

EU,CLÁUDIO REDEL.CLAUDIO.REDEL12@GMAIL.CO­M,GOSTARIA DE CONHECER UMA ALEMÃ DA ALEMANHA.47ANOS.TÉCNICO EM CONTABILIDADE.TÉCNICO EM SEGURANÇA DO TRABALHO.EU TENHO 47 ANOS.JOINVILLE SC.TELEFONE 47-84464723.OU UMA ITALIANA.AGUARDO RETORNO.CLÁUDIO.

[inferno0020]

The Moroccans need to develop their own solar technology so that they can use technology independently.

[ELYASELYAS]

hahahahahaha since when do you Nazis care for gays and women? :DDD

[Sebastian Laug]

no you are dependent from our development aid :D

[belardo80]

lol but you still need the sun ;)

[marsglorious]

The Green political movement may have started in Australia, but it was Germans that really made it happen.

The Greens are getting exponentially stronger every election. There is hope.

Wish I could say the same for the USA.

[marsglorious]

I just realized how ridiculous the renewables skeptics are here in Australia. We could introduce that scheme here, we have deserts freely at hand, close to every major city covering the whole interior of the country. Every city is along the coast and mostly near windy Antarctic coasts. They just did a survey and found that Australia could do 10% geothermal, despite us having no volcanoes. Yet we still derive 95% from brown coal, which realizes more radiation than German Nuclear on top of CO2.

[Flex2212]

Take into account the economies of scale of Desertec! It's a THOUSEND times a bigger project than the Andersol !! And the technology is still improving. Your comparison makes no sense.