Producing Food, Water, Energy in Deserts

[RobRich]

The ambitious Sahara Forest project aims to bring food, fresh water, and clean energy to deserts by utilizing a combination of greenhouses, vegetation, and solar panels.

The Sahara Forest project would marry huge greenhouses with concentrated solar power (CSP), which uses mirrors to focus the sun's rays and generate heat and electricity. The installations would turn deserts into lush patches of vegetation, according to its designers, and without the need to dig wells for fresh water, which has depleted acquifers in many parts of the world.

The team includes one of the lead architects behind Cornwall's Eden project and demonstration plants are already running in Tenerife, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Source: Guardian