Eco Factor: Silica from desert sand to be used to make solar panels for renewable energy.
A team of Japanese scientists have come up with an ingenious proposal to provide 50 percent of the world’s energy needs by utilizing sand from the Sahara desert. Christened “The Sahara Solar Breeder Project,” the plan calls for the development of silicon-manufacturing plants that will be powered by the sun and will further breed more plants for more power.
According to statistics, the sun delivers 10,000 times more energy to the Earth than the current requirements, which means that even if we harness 0.01 percent of it, it would create a surplus. The plan is to use desert sand to make a substance that provides energy, which will be the key to solving the energy problem. While technology to convert silica into silicon for solar panels doesn’t exist, the researchers are confident that it is definitely doable.
The research is starting this year and will require an expenditure of 100 million yen annually for five years. The initial aim of the research team is to build a solar plant with an annual capacity of at least 100GW, which would truly help to solve the world’s energy problems.
Via: CNNGo/DigInfo TV
