Could Solar Panels In The Sahara Power Europe?

Greenpages has reported on the huge Copenhagen (March 10-12) interdisciplinary International Scientific Congress on Climate Change.

The University of Copenhagen hosted the Congress ‘Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions’ and discussed the latest knowledge on climate within a broad field of research e.g. nature sciences, economy and health.

Dr Anthony Patt from International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria suggested that all of Europe’s current energy needs could be supplied by installing solar panels in the Saharan desert.

He believes only a fraction of the desert would need to be utilised as a solar generator and calculated costs for such as project could be around 50 billion pounds over 10 years and says

“There is a growing number of cost estimates of both wind and concentrated solar power for North Africa that start to compare favourably with alternative technologies…the cost of moving long distances has really come down.”

Trials of such a scheme are being planned for a number of North African countries though of course critics of the idea point to the political instabilities in the region.

The purpose of the Congress was to add the latest research to basis of knowledge on climate change compiled in the IPCC reports. The congress outcomes will be summed up in a report for political negotiators as preparation for the next get together in December 09 in Copenhagen where a new global climate agreement is to be negotiated.

How would such a proposition relate to Australia’s desert and fringe settlement I wonder?