Solar power could surge by 2050 in deserts: study

PARIS (Reuters) – Solar power plants in deserts using mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays have the potential to generate up to a quarter of the world’s electricity by 2050, a report by pro-solar groups said on Monday.

The study, by environmental group Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA) and the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) SolarPACES group, said huge investments would also create jobs and fight climate change.

The 28-page report said investments in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants were set to exceed 2 billion euros ($2.80 billion) worldwide this year, with the biggest installations under construction in southern Spain and California.

“Concentrating solar power could meet up to 7 percent of the world’s projected power needs in 2030 and a full quarter by 2050,” it said of the most optimistic scenario.

That assumes a giant surge in investments to 21 billion euros a year by 2015 and 174 billion a year by 2050, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Under that scenario, solar plants would have installed capacity of 1,500 gigawatts by 2050.

Reuters