Sunday, March 13, 2016

Sahara Forest Project: Qatar's Plan to Turn the Worlds Desert Green

Sahara Forest Project
The Sahara Forest Project is a solution to provide fresh water, food, renewable energy and green jobs in hot, arid regions as well as re-vegetating areas of uninhabited desert, in a profitable way.

The Sahara Forest Project is a scheme that aims to provide fresh water, food and renewable energy in hot, arid regions as well as re-vegetating areas of uninhabited desert. This proposal combines saltwater-cooled greenhouses with Solar Power technologies, either directly using Photovoltaic (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP) 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 founding team behind the Sahara Forest Project was composed of experts from Seawater Greenhouse Ltd, Exploration Architecture, Max Fordham Consulting Engineers and the Bellona Foundation. The scale of the proposed scheme is such that very large quantities of seawater would be evaporated. By using locations below sea level, pumping costs would be eliminated. Among planned activities are one pilot project in Jordan and one in Qatar
Pilot in Qatar

Sahara Forest Project's first pilot facility was built in Qatar and officially opened in December 2012 by then HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The pilot results were better than expected. The pilot results have prepared for the next steps, 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 Royal Norwegian Embassy in Amman for establishing a Sahara Forest Project Launch Station and related activities in Jordan. The Launch Station will be the first step towards the realization of a full-scale Sahara Forest Project Centre in Aqaba, Jordan. The Launch Station will contain a Saltwater-cooled greenhouse in combination with solar power technologies and facilities for outdoor cultivation and revegetation. 
Sahara Forest Project: From vision to reality (revised) from Sahara Forest Project on Vimeo.

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