German study sees job boom from Sahara solar project

A project linking solar power from the Sahara to energy users in Europe and North Africa could create 240,000 German jobs and generate 2 trillion euros ($2,822 billion) worth of power by 2050, a study published on Thursday found.

The report by Germany’s Wuppertal Institute for Climate for Greenpeace and the Club of Rome also said more than 580,000 jobs in concentrated solar power (CSP) could be created worldwide by the middle of the century with the right political framework.
“Renewable energy could become Germany’s leading industry in the 21st century,” Greenpeace energy expert Andree Boehling told a news conference. “And concentrated solar power could become Germany’s next export hit after photovoltaic and wind energy.”

Germany has become a world leader in renewable energy technology in the last decade and some 214,000 people are employed in the sector. There are over 750,000 people working in the car sector, Germany’s leading industry.

It would take CSP — a technology that uses mirrors to harness the sun’s rays to produce steam and drive turbines to produce electricity — from the Sahara and deliver to markets locally and in Europe.

Reuters