Few months ago, when I was still a junior lobbyist in Brussels, I heard about an amazing project related to renewable energies. This umpteenth new project sounded like an utopia. Conceived by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), an international network of scientists and politicians aiming to solve Europe's energy problem, the well-named DESERTEC, seemed to be the craziest green project I ever heard. "Their vision is to turn desert sun into electricity, thereby harnessing inexhaustible, clean and affordable energy. Under their scheme, so-called parabolic trough collectors collect sunlight like a magnifying glass, the heat is then used to turn water into steam, which drives turbines that produce electricity".
The technology involved in DESERTEC is called Concentrating solar power (CSP) and sounds quite simple and affordable nowadays. Solar thermal power plants have operated successfully in California since the 1980s. Unfortunately, the technology has been held back, because oil, gas and coal have been far cheaper sources of energy... until now. So thanks to the dramatic increase of fossil fuel prices, solar thermal power becomes "trendy" once again. Thus, Spain is also investing in CSP. In the province of Granada, the biggest solar thermal power plant in Europe is being built.