Its not a mirage, Its a man made oasis!

A Norway based environment technology firm Sahara Forest Project(SHP) has initiated an innovative project of building a man made oasis in the desert city of Aqaba, Jordan. As per this novel concept, the saline water from the Red sea will be transported to the coastal city’s 50 acre demonstration area. SHP intends to use a fusion of two ultra modern techniques – concentrated solar power and seawater greenhouse with the aim of growing crops, generate carbon free energy and desalinate the sea water. The project has even received a go ahead signal from the Jordanian government. The construction has begun and the setup could be operational by 2012 with full commercial usage commencing from 2015.



The Sahara Forest Project first presented their idea in front of a global audience at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009. At that conference, his Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan admired the plan and gave permit to start the work for creating a desert forest in the Aqaba Special Economic Zone. Out of the two technologies I mentioned, the seawater greenhouse harnesses the generous amount of solar energy to vaporize the sea water and condense the steam to get fresh water. This process will lead to formation of cool and humid conditions which are conducive for crop cultivation and growth. Thus, with the help of fresh water for irrigation and favorable weather conditions, this barren desert can turn into a green agricultural land.

The concentrated solar power uses mirrors to focus sun rays onto the pipes of fluid. The steam generated from the boiling of this superheated liquid is used to run a turbine generator producing electricity. So the power used to run the facility is also produced without increasing the atmospheric carbon content.

Although this scheme is currently applied to coastal desert cities, it is also feasible in inland arid regions which lie below sea level. Due to their low lying geographic location, Water can be supplied to these cities or towns with minimal cost for pumping and related operations. Innovative projects like these are the future models for food and energy production. Such ideas can substitute the present day techniques which use fossil fuels and cause a lot of pollution.