The European Union is considering an audacious plan to cut Europe's carbon emissions by harnessing the power of the desert sun in the Sahara, The Guardian reports Wednesday.
Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European Commission's Institute for Energy, said it would require the capture of just 0.3% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts to meet all of Europe's energy needs.
Scientists working on the project admit that it would take many years and huge investment to generate enough solar energy from north Africa to power Europe but envisage that by 2050 it could produce 100 Gigawatts, more than the combined electricity output from all sources in the U.K., with an investment of around GBP450 billion.