Desertec resources

This page provides information and links to leaflets, slide shows and other information resources about CSP and the Desertec ideas.

LEAFLETS AND SHORT DOCUMENTS

The following A4 leaflets and short documents summarise key aspects of the Desertec proposals:

• The Desertec concept in brief (PDF, 179 KB, 2 sides). This summarises the Desertec concept in key points.
• Desertec and the UK (PDF, 135 KB, 6 sides). This summarises the potential benefits of Desertec for the UK, provides answers to some frequently-asked questions, and outlines things that the UK government can do to help things forward.
• Clean power from deserts: what governments can do (PDF, 68 KB, 4 sides). This provides reasons why governments and the EU should do all that they can to facilitate the Desertec developments, and it summarises what actions are needed to move things forward.
• Desertec: security of energy supplies (PDF, 45 KB, 3 sides). Provides reasons why we may have confidence in the security of energy supplies in a Desertec scenario.
• Kick-start and upgrade (PDF, 128 KB, 2 sides). Describes how imports of "clean power from deserts" may begin relatively soon via the existing grid and how the grid may be upgraded as the quantities of electricity increase.
• Supergrid costs and benefits (PDF, 49 KB, 4 sides). Describes why the proposed EUMENA-wide HVDC supergrid would be good value for money and affordable.
• Interstate transmission superhighways: paving the way to a low-carbon future (PDF, 239 KB, 7 sides). This is an article from RenewableEnergyWorld.com (2008-07-30), which makes a case for a large-scale grid in the USA.

Desertec slide show

A slide show about the Desertec concept may be downloaded via these links:

• PPTX (22 MB)
• PPT (23 MB)
• PDF (10 MB)

The main slides are those from the beginning up to the slide headed "Further information". The other slides are there in reserve in case they are needed for questions etc.

There are probably more slides in the main sequence than would be needed for any one talk. With PowerPoint, any slide that is not needed can be 'hidden' by right-clicking on the thumbnail for the slide and choosing 'Hide Slide'. Any hidden slide can be shown during a talk by right-clicking on the screen and choosing 'Go/By Title/<the slide that you want to show>'.

CSP projects around the world

Placards and banners

desertec_security2

The source files for this A2 placard can be downloaded from here:

• desertec_placard.cdr. If you wish to change the design, use this Corel Draw file.
• desertec_placard.pdf. If you wish to use the design as it is, give this file to your local digital print shop.

This placard can be mounted on a stick or, if you wish to keep dry in the rain, put it in on the top of an umbrella! If you want the message to be read from behind as well as in front, get a second copy printed and mount them back to back.

We also have a TIFF file with a similar design for a banner, measuring 174 cm x 145 cm, that can be printed on fabric. If you would like a copy of this file and information about getting a banner printed etc, please get in touch.

T-shirts

If you would like a "Desertec" T-shirt, they are available at the very reasonable price of £4.50 from the 1Click Group. Everything is set up to make ordering easy. Many thanks to Hywel Roberts for organising this (+44 (0) 7792 140 178, hywelroberts [AT] hotmail [DOT] com).

CSP plants on Google Earth

If you have Google Earth free software installed, click CSP plants around the world to see where CSP plants are being planned, being built, or are up and running in different parts of the world (with links back to relevant reports on our News page). NOTE: this database has not been updated since about 2010 but may, nevertheless, provide some useful information.

The model works best with:

• The Firefox browser. Clicking on the link should download our database of CSP projects and should start Google Earth automatically.
• The Google Chrome browser. Clicking on the link should download our database of CSP projects which will show as an icon on the bottom of the screen. Double-click on the icon to start Google Earth.

Internet Explorer can cause problems. As a workaround with Internet Explorer, right-click on the link, choose "Save target as", navigate to where you want the file saved, change the last three letters of the filename to "kmz" (instead of "zip") and click "Save". If you cannot see those three letters at the end of the file name, open Windows Explorer, choose Tools/Folder Options/View, and uncheck the box labelled "Hide extensions for known file types".

The CSP plants are listed in the left panel under the headings 'Places', 'Temporary Places' and 'CSP plants' and marked with coloured icons on the earth itself. Double-click on any CSP plant listed in the left panel and Google Earth will fly you to it. Or just spin the earth and see where the icons are. Click on each icon for more information about that item, including links to relevant news items on our News page.

Please send corrections or new information about CSP plants to Gerry Wolff.

See also List of solar thermal power stations (Wikipedia).

Talk given by Vinod Khosla at Solar Power 2006

Vinod Khosla, legendary venture capitalist, gave this interesting talk at Solar Power 2006 about the risks of climate change, the problems of coal-fired electricity generation, and the potential of solar power, especially CSP:

• The slides in a PDF file (3.7 MB).
• Video pictures of speakers at Solar Power 2006 (with sound), including:
  • Keynote address by Vinod Khosla (accompanied by the slide show, above).
  • Keynote address by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
  • Inverview with Vinod Khosla (scroll down to the bottom).

Referring to CSP in comparison with coal-fired electricity generation, Vinod Khosla says: ... we are poised for breakaway growth—for explosive growth—not because we are cleaner but because we are cheaper. We happen to be cleaner incidentally.

There is also a very interesting interview with Vinod Khosla on ABC TV (Australia). The accompanying film, "Earth, Wind & Fire", that may be viewed from the same page, contains some interesting footage about geothermal power (from about 16 minutes in) and about CSP (from about 24 minutes in).