Solar power—is there anything it can’t do? British scientists have found a new use for solar technology with the Sahara Forest Project, a proposed plan to combine greenhouses that use seawater to grow crops with solar power installations.

The greenhouse-solar power combination could potentially provide food, fresh water and energy to deserts.

According to the project’s designers, the technology works by having greenhouses use solar farms to power seawater evaporators. Cool air is pumped through the greenhouses, reducing the temperature by about 15 C compared to outside.

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“Vast farms of solar panels in the Sahara desert could provide clean electricity for the whole of Europe, according to EU scientists working on a plan to pool the region’s renewable energy,” reports the newspaper.

As the world continues to investigate energy sources that are environmentally friendly, there is a need for developed countries to actively promote both technology and skills transfer to poorer nations. The fact is the problem of climate change is a sum of its parts. If one part of the world lacks appropriate solutions, the problem will still come back to haunt even those countries that have access to perceived technological solutions.

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So how, does the eco-option for crossing this massive and barren landscape stack up against more modern technologies? This is a question posed regularly at EcoWorldly and I recently had the opportunity to put it to the test during a journey which took me from the ‘Gateway to the Sahara’ in Douz, Southern Tunisia, to Matmata, a desert village of cave dwellings famous for providing the location for Luke Skywalker’s home in the Star Wars movies.

(Note: the author only discovered this fact after arriving - this was not a pilgrimage.)

Our local guides presented us with two options: The camel - trusty ship of the desert, as used for centuries by desert dwellers, and the equally ubiquitous Toyota Land Cruiser 4×4 – the motor vehicle of choice for those needing to travel across challenging terrain.

We gave both modes of transport a thorough workout in an attempt to compare our eco camel against it’s more modern counterpart, making assessments on comfort, emissions, speed, reliability, off-road capability and fuel consumption. The testing process consisted of two days of travel across the desert by camel, camping overnight in the dunes, followed by a further day’s journey in the Land Cruiser.

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The two decided to prove the viability of different kinds of feedstock to produce biofuels, especially biodiesel and ethanol. They’ve done that, traveling from Poole, England to Timbuktu, Mali, 4,473 miles, using 396 gallons of fuel made from three tons of discarded chocolate.

The truck was salvaged from a scrap yard, repaired and fitted for the long trip. It will remain in Timbuktu, a donation to a local charity. The crew will also set up a small processing unit to convert waste oil products into fuel.

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