Estimates put the cost of the project at over £30 billion, but plans for the Saharan sun to power electrical grids across Europe are reported to be in favour with some of the continent's leading politicians, including Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown.
It is thought that the photovoltaic cells - if built in abundance - could have a stronger output than those already in operation around Europe, simply because the North African Saharan sun produces sun rays more intensely.
Some estimates place the difference at more than three times the amount currently garnered from Europe's solar farms.
The suggestion is that the energy these solar panels would generate could then be accessed across Europe.
This in itself might prove costly. It would mean a connection of several nation's electricity grids, so that everybody had easy and equal access to the energy.
It is thought that the cables necessary to connect the grids could cost Europe €1 billion for the next 42 years.
What is apparent, then, is that the project would need serious investment. But - with growing importance now being attached to the development of sustainable energy by Europe's leaders - the project is a real possibility.
Indeed it has been posited that the benefits would outweigh the cost. With enough investment, it is suggested that the Saharan solar farms could generate a maximum capacity of 100GW by 2050.
That equals a maximum capacity which beats the electricity consumption of every energy source in the UK combined.
With plans to connect existing sustainable energy initiatives to the grids, that maximum capacity could get higher; it is thought that already operational wind farms in the U.K and Denmark - plus geothermal energy from Italy and Iceland - could all contribute to a vast European energy reserve.
Combined with the announcement for the production of 'Solar Tres' - the world's third large scale solar thermal power tower - in Spain, the proposals make for encouraging reading.
The Saharan desert is not the only suggested place for such initiatives.
With the Saharan solar farms as a case in point, experts are suggesting that the high levels of sunlight on the world's deserts, plus the vast expanse of barren land, would make them the ideal places for large-scale sustainable solar energy farms right across the globe.
If Europe's plans for connecting their electricity grids together runs smoothly, it could set a precedent for the world's other continents.
That could mean high energy solar farms for each of the world's continents, with the Arabian and Thar deserts in Asia, the Kalahari Desert in Africa, the Sonaran and Mojave deserts in the U.S, and Chihuahuan desert in Mexico.
There are also three deserts categorised in Australia; the Great Sandy, the Gibson, and the Great Victoria.
After the EU recently announced that it aims to have its member state's reliant on sustainable energy for at least 20% of its energy intake by 2020, plans for the Saharan Desert solar farms could move swiftly.
If indeed it does - and is successful - the hope is that it can spark similar projects across deserts worldwide.
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Posted under Articles, Climate, Environmental News, Renewable Energy
This post was written by Chris Woolfrey on July 30, 2008