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The Sahara Forest Project aims to provide fresh water, food and
Seawater Greenhouse LtdSahara Forest ProjectExploration Architecture
Megaprojects Climate change organizations Desert greening Food security Water security Energy security Sahara
The Sahara Forest Project aims to provide fresh water, food and renewable energy
Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
in hot, arid regions as well as re-vegetating areas of uninhabited desert. The founding team was composed of Seawater Greenhouse Ltd, Exploration Architecture, Max Fordham Consulting Engineers and the Bellona Foundation.
The proposed technology combines saltwater-cooled greenhouses with solar power technologies, either directly using photovoltaic
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...
(PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated whe ...
and technologies for desert revegetation. It is claimed that these technologies together will create a sustainable and profitable source of energy, food, vegetation and water. The scale of the proposed project is such that very large quantities of seawater would be evaporated. By using locations below sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
, pumping costs would be eliminated. A project in Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
has been completed, and pilot projects in Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
and Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
have been initiated.
Pilot in Qatar
Sahara Forest Project's first pilot facility was built inQatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
and officially opened on 16 December 2012 by the then Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (; born 3 June 1980) is Emir of Qatar, reigning since 2013.
Tamim is the fourth son of former emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, born to his second spouse, Moza bint Nasser, Moza bint Nassir. He became heir ...
. The results were better than expected. The results have guided next steps, namely a test and demonstration center providing the first commercial-scale of the full Sahara Forest Project value chain.
Jordan agreement
On 22 June 2014, the Sahara Forest Project signed an agreement with the Norwegian Embassy in Amman for establishing a Sahara Forest Project Launch Station and related activities inJordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
. The Launch Station will be the first step towards a full-scale Sahara Forest Project Centre in Aqaba
Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...
, Jordan. The Launch Station will contain a saltwater-cooled greenhouse in combination with solar power technologies and facilities for outdoor cultivation and revegetation. The Qatar plant was dismantled in 2016, and is expected to be operational in Jordan in 2017 after being shipped.
Not all reports on the project are optimistic. Hydroponics projects globally tend to be overly optimistic but there are downsides to producing expensive crops in a population that cannot afford to buy them.
See also
* Al Baydha Project *Sahara
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
* Sundrop Farms; a somewhat similar project
* Wadi Rum Consultancy
* Great Green Wall (Africa)
The Great Green Wall or Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel (; ) is a project adopted by the African Union in 2007, initially conceived as a way to combat desertification in the Sahel region and hold back expansion of the Sahara des ...
References
{{Reflist, 2External links
Seawater Greenhouse Ltd
Megaprojects Climate change organizations Desert greening Food security Water security Energy security Sahara