Green Daily

As a planet, we have a lot of desert and even more sea water. So how does the Sahara Forest Project wants to use these factors to grow food (along with generating extra fresh water and energy) in the Sahara desert?

Think back to grade four biology and you may remember that plants need a couple of things to get growing -- namely sunlight and fresh water (among other things but I barely passed biology). There's obviously not much fresh water around (rain can be minimal for years at a time) and despite their love of light, plants are not big fans of extreme heat. So how does using the world's biggest hot desert help here?

This is how the super ambitious project will work: huge solar farms will power evaporators that turn seawater into damp, cooler air. This water-laden air will be pumped into gigantic seawater greenhouses greatly reducing the temperature compared to the heat outside. The water vapor is then condensed and used to water almost any crops they want to grow. The generated fresh-ified water would also be used to clean the solar mirrors and be utilized by the local environment. What you get is a lot of humidity and a comfy temperature to grow well-watered crops.

While it sounds fantastical, similar demo-projects already exist in Oman and the UAE. And the idea of using the bright desert sun is part of a $65 billion plan to create a super-grid that would generate energy for Europe from north Africa, a project that has generated a lot of political interest from Great Britain and France.