Climate scientist wants to turn entire Sahara desert into green farmland

[RandomPoster]

"Eugenia Kalnay, a prominent atmospheric scientist at the University of Maryland, has been thinking about this idea for a decade. Kalnay is small in stature, soft-spoken. But she's made her name with big and bold ideas. And what could be bigger and bolder than reversing the course of the world's biggest desert?"

"It is wonderful!" she says, and her eyes go wide with an infectious joy. "We were so happy because it seems like a major solution for some of the problems that we have."

The super solar farm she imagines is huge, as big as the entire United States. And it would generate four times as much electricity as the entire planet consumes right now. Kalmay talks of novel high-capacity transmission lines delivering power to Europe and the rest of Africa.

I told her that the whole scenario sounds like science fiction. Kalnay disagreed. "It would be science fiction if the technology was not available," she said."

If the Sahara Desert were transformed into fertile farmland, it could solve the world's hunger problems.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsan...possible-dream

Solar Farm Cost Per Acre ? InnovativeSolarFarms.com

A good number for solar farm cost per acre is typically $500,000 here in the U.S.

US = 2,429,914,880 acres

This equals approximately 1.2 quadrillion dollars. I know that sounds like a lot, except if we simply taxed the one percenters a bit more and made them pay their fair share.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

It is certainly an interesting idea

 

[JustAnotherNut]

They just better be careful with what they think will be an easy fix. The earth and all it's parts are a delicate balance and when you start messing with it, you open a pandora's box

 

[Votto]

"Eugenia Kalnay, a prominent atmospheric scientist at the University of Maryland, has been thinking about this idea for a decade. Kalnay is small in stature, soft-spoken. But she's made her name with big and bold ideas. And what could be bigger and bolder than reversing the course of the world's biggest desert?"

"It is wonderful!" she says, and her eyes go wide with an infectious joy. "We were so happy because it seems like a major solution for some of the problems that we have."

The super solar farm she imagines is huge, as big as the entire United States. And it would generate four times as much electricity as the entire planet consumes right now. Kalmay talks of novel high-capacity transmission lines delivering power to Europe and the rest of Africa.

I told her that the whole scenario sounds like science fiction. Kalnay disagreed. "It would be science fiction if the technology was not available," she said."

If the Sahara Desert were transformed into fertile farmland, it could solve the world's hunger problems.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsan...possible-dream

Solar Farm Cost Per Acre ? InnovativeSolarFarms.com

A good number for solar farm cost per acre is typically $500,000 here in the U.S.

US = 2,429,914,880 acres

This equals approximately 1.2 quadrillion dollars. I know that sounds like a lot, except if we simply taxed the one percenters a bit more and made them pay their fair share.

1.2 quadrillion dollars?

Sure, nothing to it. Just tax the 1% a wee bit more and you should have that money in no time.

Then again, if you took all the money of the richest people in the world, it would come nowhere close to that amount, but who cares. It makes for a good story on why we need to raise taxes.

Carry on.

 

[Marion Morrison]

Things like that always have unintended consequences. It's not good to mess with nature too much.

 

[Wyatt earp]

She thinks small, turn the moon into one big solar panel and hook up an extension cord to it.

 

[Votto]

She thinks small, turn the moon into one big solar panel and hook up an extension cord to it.

Hell, why not turn the moon into a garden.

Probably would be cheaper.

Plus it would be more cheery to look at.

 

[Wyatt earp]

She thinks small, turn the moon into one big solar panel and hook up an extension cord to it.

Hell, why not turn the moon into a garden.

Probably would be cheaper.

Plus it would be more cheery to look at.

I am still hoping for that comet made of alcohol to land here

 

[Votto]

She thinks small, turn the moon into one big solar panel and hook up an extension cord to it.

Hell, why not turn the moon into a garden.

Probably would be cheaper.

Plus it would be more cheery to look at.

I am still hoping for that comet made of alcohol to land here

Dims will probably name it the Kavanaugh comet.

 

[DOTR]

Is this a joke? Only 1.2 quadrillion? All of the worlds wealth in history doesnt equal that.

 

[there4eyeM]

Solar power pays for itself. It is not a cost, it is a real investment.

 

[JLW]

Things like that always have unintended consequences. It's not good to mess with nature too much.

I agree. It is like dumping 30 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year and not expecting any consequences. It is not good to mess with nature that much. We do however know the consequences.

 

[Windparadox]

Solar power pays for itself. It is not a cost, it is a real investment.

`
Solar power and farming the Sahara is definitely an intriguing idea with much merit. But it needs more study and a slow, calculated implementation. Unfortunately, there is no unified organization to this. Reports and studies on the benefits vs risks often clash and are based on conjecture more than empirical data.

 

[harmonica]

.....the problems are not just not having enough food, but war, politics/conflicts/etc that hinder distribution/etc
....Africa is a shithole
...you can't think of it as like other normal areas

 

[harmonica]

...I've linked how some farmers in Africa don't even know basic farming methods for proper crop production

 

[skookerasbil]

If an idea sounds incredibly unbelievable and the cost is astronomical, you know it's a liberal idea. Its fascinating! Old Rocks and Mamooth will think this very doable.

 

[Windparadox]

If an idea sounds incredibly unbelievable and the cost is astronomical, you know it's a liberal idea. Its fascinating! Old Rocks and Mamooth will think this very doable.

`
Right now, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Saudi Arabia have invested tens of billions of dollars in desert renewable energy projects. Source 1 and Source 2.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

"Eugenia Kalnay, a prominent atmospheric scientist at the University of Maryland, has been thinking about this idea for a decade. Kalnay is small in stature, soft-spoken. But she's made her name with big and bold ideas. And what could be bigger and bolder than reversing the course of the world's biggest desert?"

"It is wonderful!" she says, and her eyes go wide with an infectious joy. "We were so happy because it seems like a major solution for some of the problems that we have."

The super solar farm she imagines is huge, as big as the entire United States. And it would generate four times as much electricity as the entire planet consumes right now. Kalmay talks of novel high-capacity transmission lines delivering power to Europe and the rest of Africa.

I told her that the whole scenario sounds like science fiction. Kalnay disagreed. "It would be science fiction if the technology was not available," she said."

If the Sahara Desert were transformed into fertile farmland, it could solve the world's hunger problems.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsan...possible-dream

Solar Farm Cost Per Acre ? InnovativeSolarFarms.com

A good number for solar farm cost per acre is typically $500,000 here in the U.S.

US = 2,429,914,880 acres

This equals approximately 1.2 quadrillion dollars. I know that sounds like a lot, except if we simply taxed the one percenters a bit more and made them pay their fair share.

That was sarcasm, right?

 

[skookerasbil]

Solar power pays for itself. It is not a cost, it is a real investment.

`
Solar power and farming the Sahara is definitely an intriguing idea with much merit. But it needs more study and a slow, calculated implementation. Unfortunately, there is no unified organization to this. Reports and studies on the benefits vs risks often clash and are based on conjecture more than empirical data.

I guess we should all thank God there are people out there who really do think anything is possible.....I suppose they give some hope. But there are so very few.......a little tiny sliver of the population so it will never matter!

 

[skookerasbil]

.....the problems are not just not having enough food, but war, politics/conflicts/etc that hinder distribution/etc
....Africa is a shithole
...you can't think of it as like other normal areas

Its sad.....almost to a person, liberals so supportive of renewable energy don't even realize that it makes the poor even poorer......like in California where the citizens spend almost 10% of their net income in energy!. Now how fucked up is that?