African sun energy France

Could North Africa be Europe's future energy partner?

Politics aside, North Africa is increasingly seen as the golden prize for Europe’s twin desires to green its energy system and end its reliance on Russian gas. “North Africa is Europe’s most important potential future trading partner in renewable energy,” says El-Katiri. That is good news for fighting climate change.

Are solar and wind farms a good idea in North Africa?

Critics also point to environmental and social concerns. Proponents of solar and wind farms in North Africa routinely describe the land they are taking as remote, empty desert. But even the Sahara Desert is not deserted, especially the coastal areas favored to link up with submarine cables.

Is Western Sahara supplying half of Morocco's wind and solar energy?

Western Sahara Resource Watch, a Brussels-based NGO allied to the independence movement, estimates that by the end of the decade occupied Western Sahara could be supplying half of all Morocco’s wind energy and a third of its solar energy, much of it headed for Europe.

Can large-scale solar farms influence atmospheric circulation in the Sahara Desert?

Our Earth system model simulations show that the envisioned large-scale solar farms in the Sahara Desert, if covering 20% or more of the area, can significantly influence atmospheric circulation and further induce cloud fraction and RSDS changes (summarized in Fig. 7) across other regions and seasons.

Should Africa export so much power?

But there are ethical concerns about Africa exporting so much power. Most people in Morocco and Egypt have electricity, but less than half the continent’s population is connected to reliable power grids.

Could large solar farms in the Sahara Desert redistribute solar power?

Large solar farms in the Sahara Desert could redistribute solar power generation potential locally as well as globally through disturbance of large-scale atmospheric teleconnections, according to simulations with an Earth system model.