In China Siemens has put an “electricity highway” into operation that works with a voltage of 800 kilovolts (kV). The high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system stretches over nearly 1,500km. That is equivalent to the distance from the south of Germany to the southern tip of Italy. The second pole was recently switched on, raising the transmission capacity to 5,000 megawatts.
The Chinese government has established a National Energy Commission (NEC). This “Super Ministry“ is composed of 21 members, mostly ministers from other fields, such as finance or development. Headed by the Prime Minister Wen Jiabao himself, the NEC is responsible for drafting national energy development plans, reviewing energy security and coordinating international cooperation. Insiders say that this step indicates the importance of energy issues for the development of China.
Read article on www.chinadaily.com
The IEA reports Australia could generate 5 per cent of its electricity from CSP. The IEA indicated CSP should be a competitive form of peak and intermediate power by 2020, and of baseload power by 2025 to 2030. The IEA went even further, reporting that CSP would be able to provide 40 per cent of Australia’s electricity by 2050.
Read article on www.businessspectator.com.au
Despite the economic crisis, the CSP industry has encountered significant growth worldwide. Especially Spain serves as role model due to its feed-in tariffs for the next 1.5 GW CSP under construction. Additionally, the USA, Australia, India and the Mediterranean states are initiating remarkable CSP projects, promising further growth. After all, governmental support is the premiss for successful implementations.
Read article on www.evwind.es
EU Energy Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, pleads for a pan-European law on renewable energies. The German law on renewables could be used as a blueprint for a possible, pan-European law. This regulatory frame would be especially beneficial for further investments into renewables. DESERTEC, as one of the biggest projects in this field of action, would be affected positively.
Read article on EUROPOLITICS.info
The North African sun radiation might become a true cash cow for the states in this region. As the demand of energy is dramatically increasing worldwide, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Lybia might have the chance to finally use their potentials.
Read article on ITWEB.co.za
The pilot project Archimedes, operated by Italy based company ENEL, reports a brakethrough in molten salt technologies. The CSP plant now also operates with molten salt transmission liquid. Formerly, molten was only used as a storage medium due to its tendency to clump.
Read entire article on GREENTECHMEDIA.com
Paul Van Son, CEO of the DII GmbH has announced that a pilot plant will be built in Morocco. The CSP-plant will generate 500 to 1,000 megawatts.
Read article on BLOOMBERG.com
The US-government, under President Barack Obama, plans a major investment in the solar energy industry. There is a plan for a $ 2 billion dollar solar plant in Arizona. The project, called “Solana“, is supposed to be built by the Spanish Abengoa Solar company and the US firm Abound Solar Manufacturing. The state-of-the-art plant, Solana, is said to provide more than 5,000 new jobs and generate electricity for 70,000 households.
read article on bbc.co.uk
The DESERTEC university network is an academic research network, aiming at an interconnection of MENA researchers in the field of desert technologies.
The network arose from a cooperation of the Tunisian National Advisory Council for Scientific Research and Technology and the DESERTEC Foundation.
Read article on lapresse.tn (french)
Read article on zwaya.com (english)
The state of Morocco strives for an energy change. As the only North African country without oil, the kingdom discovers its enormous capability as a location for renewable energies. On June 28th, King Mohammed VI inaugurated a brand new wind farm, which is only a fraction of an investment in the renewable energy sector with a total capacity of 3 billion US-Dollars. Morocco puts huge efforts in the development of its energy infrastructure, to become an integral part of DESERTEC.
Read article on energyboom.com
The state of Abu Dhabi decided to build a CSP-Plant in Medinat, 80 miles south from Abu Dhabi City. The project, baptised „Shams 1“, will be the biggest CSP-Plant ever built. „Shams 1“ will produce 100 megawatts and save 170.000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. It will be the first plant that meets the UN‘s Clean Development Mechanism.
Read Article on popsci.com
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Günther Öttinger, EU-Energy Commissioner, met with the energy ministers of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria in Algier. The outcome is “ministerial declaration“, aiming at the integration of the european and the north african electricity grid. This measure enhances the feasibility of capital investments in the northern african electricity industry and paves the way for DESERTEC.
read article on europa.eu (only french)
!["Energy [R]Evolution" study by Greenpeace und EREC](typo3temp/GB/699d7fd982.gif "\"Energy [R]Evolution\" study by Greenpeace und EREC")
The study shows: solar power from the Earth's sun-belt can provide 20 percent of mankind's energy demands by the year 2050, and thus greatly contributes to the compliance with the 2-degrees climate-protection goal.
CO2-emissions from electricity production, heating and in transportation could decline by 80 percent, by the year 2050, through an interaction of energy-saving measures with decentralized and internationally interconnected renewable energies.
If the implementation of renewable energies were strongly supported, fuel costs in the amount of 5,000 billion Euros could be saved. This amount would be more than enough to rearrange the global electricity supply and moreover, it would create approximately 8.5 million jobs in the renewable energy industry.
Read entire study on greenpeace.org
EU Energy Commissioner, Günther Öttinger, steps in for DESERTEC after a meeting with the energy ministers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Öttinger mentions DESERTEC as “a two-way partnership“, being beneficial for EUMENA and announces that solar-energy will begin to be imported within the next five years.
Read article on reuters.com
France is forming a group of companies to lay an undersea power network called Transgreen that could also transport electricity from the DESERTEC solar power project from North Africa to Europe across the Mediterranean.
read article on bloomberg.com
A new report from the IEA says that the United States could position itself as the global leader in producing utility-scale solar power from deserts. The report also foresee 11,3% of global electricity by 2050 provided by CSP. The biggest game changer for CSP would be the success of the DESERTEC industrial initiative.
read article on guardian.co.uk
The IEA says the largest producer of CSP will be North America, followed by North Africa and India. Solar energy companies have high hopes for DESERTEC, a scheme focusing on solar power generation in deserts.
read article on upi.com
Saudi Arabia’s national oil company expects solar, wind and other renewable forms of energy to play an increased role in meeting global demand for fuels and power through 2030. Beside projects to reduce its own oil consumption, Saudi officials are also considering participation in the DESERTEC project to export parts of the produced solar energy to Europe.
read article on rechargenews.com
Spain approves all the projects of desert power such as DESERTEC and the Mediterranean Solar Plan and shows interest in the subject being the first European country having yet solar thermal power plants and being the only country having a power line to Africa.
read article on elpais.com (only spanish)
The many cloudless days and the huge availability of unused desert area make this part of the world suitable for the extraction of solar energy. The North African governments are adapting their existing energy policy for the changes to come in their energy economy.
Read article on happynews.nl (only Dutch)
Support for the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative is growing in all areas of business life. Amonfg the new partners there are Bilfinger Berger, the Commerzbank, Evonik, IBM Germany and the Austrian oil and gas company OMV.
Read Dii-Pressrelease
As the cost of carbon is playing into the economics of energy production, CSP is looking increasingly promising, it holds two trump cards: efficiency and scale. This could lower the costs of desert made power such as in the DESERTEC project.
read article on guardian.co.uk
The Middle East continues to dominate the world's petroleum production, but priorities appear to be shifting and the countries are becoming aware of their potential for renewable energy. The DESERTEC concept could jump-start a transformation in the energy economies of the region.
read article on earthtimes.org
Fears that the solar project DESERTEC will place its first test plant in Western Sahara are unfounded. "When looking for project sites, DESERTEC Industrial Initiative will also take political, ecological or cultural issues into consideration", a spokesperson from the DESERTEC industrial initiative (Dii) said.
read article on guardian.co.uk
DESERTEC-Founder Dr. Gerhard Knies shares his thoughts on the future of power transmission and distribution in Europe in an interview.
Read Article on prfire.co.uk
In Kuraymat, the €250 million installation uses a hybrid solar-thermal and gas-fired combined cycle technology. Kuraymat will have a generation capacity of 150 megawatts (MW), with 20MW coming from the solar array. The solar components have been supplied by the Solar Millennium and Ferrostaal joint-venture Flagsol.
Read article on rechargenews.com
Read article on cleantechnica.com
The Israeli infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau went to Germany, to meet leading companies in renewable energy and the German energy minister, to promote Israel’s integration in the DESERTEC project.
Read article (google translation)
Nur Energie, a solar project developer with operations in France, Italy, Greece and Tunisia, has joined the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (Dii) as an Associated Partner.
Read article on prnewswire.com
Oliver Steinmetz, from the European Investment Bank, is a co-founder and board member for the DESERTEC Foundation. In the interview he speaks about how the MENA countries and companies could get involved in the project and how DESERTEC can benefit the MENA countries.
Read article on greenprophet.com
The European commission is pressing ahead with plans to establish an energy agency which could open for business by March next year. Seen as regulator, it could eventually restrict national policymaking but could also give important impetus developing a European "supergrid" and large scale projects such as DESERTEC or the North Sea wind power.
Read article on guardian.co.uk
Lebanon’s Water and Energy Minister Jibran Bassil said that technical and legislative changes need to take place in order to introduce renewable energy in the country. His ministry is targeting 12 percent of renewable energy by 2020.
Read article on dailystar.com.lb
The European Commission could help pave the way for a continental super grid capable of easily transmitting renewable energy across borders by adopting plans an integrated European energy market and setting new rules for the cross border trade of electricity. This would help large-scale renewable energy projects, such as DESERTEC or the giant offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
Read article on businessgreen.com
A German-French amity group from politicians from both countries visited the Dii-member SCHOTT. During the meeting on the contribution of solar technology for inter-country expansion of renewable energies, the SCHOTT AG presented the DESERTEC project.
Read article on glassonweb.com
Five countries are failing to meet goals for renewable energy but they could make up their quotas by buying electricity from North Africa. This could help the DESERTEC project, and provide a boost for renewable energy in North Africa.
Read article on greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com
E.ON proclaimed solar power to be the second pillar of its renewable strategy. To achieve this plan, E.ON acquired a solar developer, created a CSP venture with Abengoa and participates on DESERTEC.
Read article on rechargenews.com
Deutsche Bank Vice president Mark Dominik: "Much more initiative and leadership must be provided by the private sector – particularly around iconic and mega-projects like the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative, which aims to produce 15% of Europe's power from clean sources in the Sahara – with governments responding by putting in place the appropriate enabling policy framework."
read article on euractiv.com
Federal Economics Minister Rainer Brüderle (FDP) announced that the German government will support the desert power project. As possible helps, are mentioned Export guarantees and research funding. In addition, a Task Force was established for further coordination between the DESERTEC Initiative and the Federal Government.
read article on enerzine.com (only French)
The DESERTEC Industrial Initiative will work with Morocco to arrange negotiations with the European Union to provide feed-in tariffs for electricity produced by CSP in the desert.
read article on businessweek.com
His Majesty King Mohammed VI: “allow me to point out that Morocco looks forward to exploring, with the European Union, all the opportunities to be created by regional projects, such as DESERTEC, in order to lay the foundations of a well-defined, safe, sustainable Euro-Mediterranean energy policy.”
read article on map.ma
In the windpower sector the North Sea Region is very well equipped with offshore-windplants, in the desert Regions around the equator, one can find projects like the DESERTEC project. In the article you may find a shortlist of the present established large-scale projects in the wind- and solarenegry field.
read article on epochtimes.co.il (google translation)
Morocco’s project for renewable energy will cost up to 9 billion USD. But still the experts haven’t chosen the appropriate technology. The debate opposes the photovoltaic technology to the solar thermal. The solar thermal choice is more suitable to fit with the strategy of international programs such as DESERTEC.
Read article on lematin.ma (only French)
During a summit about water resources in Switzerland Prince Hassan of Jordan promoted the DESERTEC concept, pointing out the additional benefit of drinking water, gained through the process of water desalination.
Read article on greenprophet.com
During a radio-interview, the Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil presented the central aims of Algerians energy policy in the upcoming years. Among other things he talked about the DESERTEC-project and the importance to negotiate an energy agreement with Europe.
Read article on latribune-online.com (French Only)
The Rajasthan Desert in India is similar to the North African. Due to high levels of available sunlight, CSP plants in Rajasthan could begin satisfying most of India’s energy needs in just a few years.
Read article on triplepundit.com
A study compiled by the group “Beyond Zero Emissions”, shows that in 10 years, Australia can provide the hole electricity needs by 40 percent of wind power and 60 percent of solar power, using technologies that are already available.
Read Article on solveclimate.com
In an international conference for renewable energies, Israel and Egypt talked about a possible common solar-project in the Sinai desert. A partnership seems obvious: Egypt owns huge areas with perfect conditions for the launch of solar-thermal-energy plants and Israel has the necessary technologies.
Read Article on sustainablebusiness.com
Due to the increasing demand in steel worldwide through huge projects like the DESERTEC industrial initiative and the implementation of wind-power in China, Ukraine is confident that the demand for steel will rise.
Read article on focus.ua (Google Translation)
The enerMENA research network was launched under the direction of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to support the technical and socio-economic implementation of the DESERTEC concept.
Read article on dlr.de
The British energy minister Lord Hunt promised on a DESERTEC seminar at the House of Commons, that the project will be seriously considered by the European Commission.
Read article on theecologist.com
China's prime minister Wang Jiabao considers ecological modernization strategic crucial. Therefore DESERTEC might become the role model for a domestic solar thermal Power generation in China. The budget for environment will be represented by 0,9 % per capita GDP - this is 0,1 % for Research and Developement.
Read article on oilchina.com (Google Translation)
The French AREVA Group, one of the leading companies in the nuclear industry, has acquired for approximately 200 - 250 million USD AUSRA, the supplier for large solar thermal power plants. By acquiring and entering the solar-thermal business, AREVA could become an interesting partner for DESERTEC.
read article on industry.bnet.com
Germany and France have announced to be working together more closely in terms of energy and climate policies. It is planned to establish a joint office for Renewable Energies, and the creation of the political framework and the development of cross-border projects such as DESERTEC.
Read article on france-allemagne.fr (Only in French)
The French ambassador in Spain Bruno Delaye talked in an interview about the project for transporting renewable energy between the two countries, called “Transgreen”. It could be complementary to the power production project DESERTEC.
Read article on lecourrier.es (Only French)
At a conference of the German-Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Christina Wittek, director of Renewable Energy, of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology has reminded that the DESERTEC project was a private initiative and would be financed privately. The state was merely there to ensure the legal framework.
Read article on elmoudjahid.com (Only French)
Gianluigi Angelantoni, presedent of Archimede Solar Energy Srl, a Joint Venture of the Italian company Angelantoni Industrie Spa and Siemens Energy (owning 28%) talking in an interview about the new technologies for DESERTEC like the DSG (direct steam generation), or the use of compressed gas as a heat conductor.
Read article on qualenergia.it (Only Italian)
On the Annual Shareholders' Meeting of Siemens AG, Peter Löscher, CEO of Siemens, spoke about DESERTEC, and pointed out that Siemens is the key technology-partner in the implementation of this "pioneering effort".
Read article (PDF)
A German-Algerian Conference on solar power was held in Algiers. Algerian and German leading German Companies discussed “feed in tariffs” for Algeria and the interests of a German-Algerian cooperation on renewable energies, reminding that the DESERTEC Foundation could fasten the power production from renewable energies in Algeria.
Read article on biladi.fr (Only French)
The Moroccan Minister for Energies Amina Benkhadra presented in Berlin the Moroccan strategy for renewable energies. On her visit in Germany, the Minister talked with Paul van Son, CEO of DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII).
Read article on lematin.ma (Only French)
The EU wants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 by 20 percent compared to 1990. "It is your and my responsibility to reach this," said Oettinger, and announced a "new and focused action plan." "It is important to think beyond that and we have to set additional targets," says Oettinger. The Desertec project could be a "great opportunity" for Africa and the EU. "We need a global paradigm shift in energy policy with the aim of decarbonization, energy security and energy solidarity." For improving the European energy grids, he could imagine a European funding program along the lines of supporting faster railways.
Written statements from Guenther OEttinger
Morocco, which is the only North African state with no oil of its own, wants to play a leading role in an European plan to draw solar power from the Sahara. Morocco will invite bids for construction of its first solar power station at the end of next month as part of a $9 billion solar energy project, its energy minister said on Wednesday. The 500-megawatt plant will be in the southern town of Ouarzazate, the site where Morocco's ruler, King Mohammed, announced the launch of the nationwide solar project last year.
Read article on af.reuters.com
Funding for a nine-nation project to link power-generation projects in a high-tech North Sea power grid was announced on Tuesday, sketching the future of European attempts to harness renewable energy. The idea is to link wind farms off Denmark, for example, with solar parks in Germany and tidal power stations in Belgium to create a regional grid of clean power, and it's been hailed on Wednesday morning by German papers as a major step in the fight against global warming.
The plan is similar to the Desertec solar project announced in Europe last year, which aims to bring solar energy from North Africa to European Union customers through a power grid under the Mediterranean Sea -- using nothing but existing technology.
Read article on Spiegel.de
Further informations on guardian.co.uk
German solar thermal developer Solar Millennium has appointed Utz Claassen, the former head of German utility EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg, as its new CEO.
As CEO, he officially starts in his new position next month, Claassen will oversee the company’s U.S. expansion. Earlier this year, the company announced that it had hired Deutsche Bank and Citigroup to help it raise as much as €4 billion ($6 billion) to finance construction of thermal power projects in the U.S. Southwest. In Spain, Solar Millennium has developed Europe’s first parabolic trough power plants. It is also participating in the massive $572 billion DESERTEC project, which seeks to build a network of large utility-scale solar generation power plants in the Sahara.
Read article on greenenergyreporter.com
The World Bank has recently announced that it will contribute 5,5 billion Dollars (3,7 billion Euros) to the funding of the building of 11 concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) plants in 5 Arab countries: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt. These units will be able to produce 1 GW of electricity, which according to the World Bank, should lead to a three fold increase of the world’s CSP production capacity.
Read article on tunisiaonlinenews.com
A.T. Kearney, the global management consulting firm expects that solar thermal power will become cost competitive in the near future as rising costs for oil and gas make renewable energy sources increasingly attractive. A.T. Kearney believes that when looking at energy generation cost and job creation opportunities MENA countries should invest in a solar power energy industry.
Read article on ameinfo.com
With its vast stores of oil and gas, the MENA region is the last place one might expect renewable energy to be in vogue. Yet interest in wind, solar and hydroelectric power has grown tremendously here in the past few years, driven by, of all things, energy shortages.
Read article on thenational.ae
Will exploit DESERTEC in neo-colonial style the North African sunlight, water and land resources for European interests? Or, does it offers primarily new development opportunities for the Sahara region itself?
Thomas Prinzler talking with supporters and critics of the DESERTEC consortium.
(Source: www.inforadio.de)
Mr Gore, whose campaigning on climate change won him a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, said GCC nations "have the wealth in their legacy from oil and gas, and the ability to follow a vision to take advantage of the whole world energy market in the future".
"Europe has set a mandate and is going to be interested in buying renewable energy," he said. "Even if electricity prices stay low, the market to sell renewable energy to Europe should be a very powerful incentive." "North Africa and the Middle East has as good a solar energy resource of any region in the world and simultaneously there is this tremendous need for portable water and desalination that is highly energy expensive." "It is extremely important in this part of the world. There is going to be an enormous global industry that is bigger than any other industry out there now, in solar, wind-enhanced, geothermal energy."
Read article on thenational.ae
Siemens announced today the aquisition of Israel-based Solel Solar Systems for $418m, to strengthen its position in the solar thermal power market. Siemens is one of the companies involved in the Desertec programme, a long-term plan for renewable energy power plants in North Africa (solar plus wind) provide energy for the region and, eventually, for Europe.
Read the whole article on pepei.pennnet.com
Morocco welcomes a European plan to draw solar power from the Sahara and wants a leading role in the project, which is worth up to 400 billion euros ($564 billion), the head of its renewable energy agency said.
Read article on Alibaba.com
Financial Times explains the DESERTEC Concept and the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII).
(Source: www.ft.com)
Jack Steinberger, who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1988, campaigned for a massive expansion of solar thermal plants. However, the power plants would have to be operated, where the sun shines reliably, for example in deserts. The German organization DESERTEC suggests, for example, building solar thermal plants in North Africa and the Sahara and to export the electricity to Europe. This would require an intercontinental grid of power lines, technologically ahead from the current high voltage cables. In its memorandum, the Nobel laureate explicitly calls for the establishment of such networks.
(Source: Sueddeutsche Zeitung)
Greenpeace International recently issued its report "Global Concentrating Solar Power Outlook 2009" which shows that the DESERTEC Concept "Clean Power from Deserts" is feasable worldwide.
"We now are delighted to say "CSP has taken off", is about to step out of the shadow of other renewable technologies and can establish itself as the third biggest player in the sustainable power generation industry. CSP does not compete against other renewable energies; it is an additional one that is now economically viable.", said Sven Teske, Renewable Energy Director from Greenpeace International and co-author of the report.
Go to Greenpeace
Here we are in May, with Obama’s first 100 days behind him and Congress assiduously debating his clean energy plan. The President's plan includes three major components: global warming policy (cap and trade), a national requirement for utilities to produce a certain percentage of their power from renewables (Renewable Portfolio Standard), and much-needed improvements to our antiquated transmission system.
Read the whole Article on renewableenergyworld.com
Nokia may be best known for its phones but it’s also getting a well-deserved reputation for backing some of the most innovative ‘Green issues’ around. The latest comes in the form of the ‘The SolarCycle Diaries’ – a gruelling around-the-world bicycle expedition that aims to highlight the potential of solar power in the fight against climate change Join us after the solar-powered jump for the full facts…
Read the whole Article on noknok.tv
For Ralf Christmann, Federal Ministry of Environment it is clear: "The Mediterranean region has enormous potential for renewable energy." Christmann is one of the experts currently working on the substantive matter of the new "Union for the Mediterranean ".
(Source: www.zenithonline.de)
The Bundestag's leading candidate brings it to the point: "Green ideas could create, in the next years, at least one million jobs. We are making great strides to expand the use of renewable energies in Europe." During the European elections Jürgen Trittin, former federal environment minister, speaks on Thursday 28 May at the Café Uferlos.
Read the whole Article on echo-muenster.de (German only)
The Ad Hoc Committee of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly for Energy and Environment came together today under the leadership of its chairman, Stefan Schennach in Parliament to a meeting with the theme "solar and renewable energy". The Euro-Mediterranean Assembly follows the "Barcelona Process" for the cooperation between Europe and the Mediterranean countries, and also provides a forum for dialogue between the Arab partners of the EU and Israel.
Read the whole Article on ots.at (German only)
The U.S. energy supplier Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG &E; San Francisco, California) reported on 13.05.2009 that the company had concluded contracts with the manufacturer, Bright Source Energy, Inc.,for the construction of solar thermal power plants with a total capacity of 1, 3 gigawatts (1,310 MW).
Read the whole Article on solarserver.de (German only)
While Congress continues to debate renewable energy portfolios and infrastructure development, individual states and companies continue to move forward.
Read the whole Article on examiner.com
The sustainable energy body, also, known as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co, is due to award the main construction contracts for its Shams 1 Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant this month, Masdar senior project manager Olaf Goebel told Reuters.
Read the whole Article on constructionweekonline.com
Ideas are taking shape in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EUMENA) for a truly comprehensive, continent-wide energy landscape of the future. And some of the strategies coming out of planning bodies "over there" deserve serious attention on the North American continent.
Read the whole Article on renewableenergyworld.com
South Africa's National Energy Regulator (NERSA) announced March 31, 2009 the introduction of a system of feed-in tariffs designed to produce 10 TWh of electricity per year by 2013. The feed-in tariffs announced were substantially higher than those in NERSA's original proposal.
Read the whole Article on renewableenergyworld.com
How do we ensure sustainable and reliable energy supplies for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa? Solar and other renewable energies in the Mediterranean could play a major role here, according to extensive studies by the German Aerospace Centre. Minister of State Gloser pledged German support for the Mediterranean Solar Plan.
Read the whole Article on auswaertiges-amt.de (German only)
Solar Power Plants in the Sahara could solve Europe's energy problem and fight poverty in North Africa.
(Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung / Christopher Schrader)
The German TV Magazine "ZDF Mittagsmagazin" reported about perspectives of power generation from CSP plants in North African deserts. Dr. Gerhard Knies gives some comments.
Open ZDF TV report
See 26 min Video about the DESERTEC Concept produced by "Deutsche Welle" including interviews with members of our TREC-Network. If you would like to download the videos (120 MB each) directly, please make a "right-click" on "file" and "save as" in a folder of your choice.
The global energy system is undergoing a structural crisis. At its heart lies the need to restrain climatic change while at the same time dealing with energy security in an era of rapidly growing demand. The widening gap between rising demand for energy and limited resources of oil and gas has, together with speculation, increased fuel prices to record levels.
Read the whole Article on boell.de
Nevada Energy, Solar Millennium and MAN Ferrostaal cooperate in the development of projects.
Thermal power plant with 250 megawatts power, thermal storage, and investments exceeding 1 billion U.S. dollars, as well as Cooperation in other projects in Nevada and the start of the construction of the first power plant end of 2010.
Read the whole Article on finanznachrichten.de (German only)
Concentrating solar power is a well-known approach to lowering the cost of solar electricity. You focus sunlight from a large area onto a small one, the same way a magnifying glass can set a piece of newspaper on fire, using one small, high-quality solar cell and a concentrator for a lower total cost than hundreds of slightly cheaper cells.
Read the whole Comment on grist.org
Known as Ultra-High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC), it could end the 'tyranny of distance' in electricity transmission. The positive global implications are hard to overstate.
Read the whole Article on sciencealert.com
At the University of Hamburg, today begins the annual meeting of the German Physical Society (DPG), round 1,500 experts from home and abroad are expected from 2nd to 6th March 2009. Quantum and atomic physics are focal points of this diversified program. On the agenda are also energy and climate research, arms control and the job market for female physicists.
Read the whole Article on innovations-report.de (German only)
Last week the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) threw its weight behind the opposition to the proposed rehabilitation of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. It rejected the opening of the nuclear plant as “the most dangerous and expensive way to generate electricity.” It said multiple risks and the possibility of corruption (again!) outweigh imagined benefits.
Read the whole Article on inquirer.net
The concentrating solar power sector is set for tremendous growth. Primary forces that are establishing concentrating solar thermal power as an attractive renewable energy resource include 70% growth of total energy demand by 2025.
Read the whole Article on earthoys.com
Cogentrix Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of the The Goldman Sachs Group, has completed its acquisition of Sunray Energy, Inc., the owner and operator of two solar power plants in the Mojave desert built in the early 1980s.
Read the whole Article on sustainablebusiness.com
