Africa: The renewable power house

Africa Renewable Energy

With the amount of sun light Africa receives, its no secret that the continent has an unbelievable potential for solar energy production. Every year, each square kilometer of the world's deserts receives solar energy equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil, and African countries such as Algeria, Angola, Libya and Nigeria are major receivers of this energy.

The world's reliance on oil could quite easily be eliminated if solar power continues to be developed on such a large scale. For if you multiply that one square kilometer by the area of deserts in Africa and the rest of the globe, this is several hundred times as much energy as the world uses in a year.

If the oil-rich African nations follow in the footsteps of countries like the United Arab Emirates and invest revenue from oil into technology such as CSP, deserts such as the Sahara, Kalahari and Namib could transform the power infrastructure and economies of much of Africa.

Unsustainable energy use

CSP is by far the most effective way in which Africa can exploit its solar potential, but the continent must also diversify if they are to begin avoiding the use of fossil fuels. It's true that traditional resources like oil and gas provide a simple, easy-to-use energy source that can bring steady revenue to some chaotic economies, but the dangers are well documented. The way in which we are currently consuming fossil fuels is not sustainable with the global demand for fossil fuels expected to increase every year for the next several decades, compounding existing problems.

So investment in renewable energy must be considered long term investments, initially working together with non-renewable power sources until renewables are ready to stand alone.

Wave and wind power

The sun is essential to three of the main sources of renewable energy: hydro-electric, wind and solar power. In Africa strong sunlight is in abundance, so the continent has an amazing opportunity to power its people, as well as protect them, the environment and their future economic development.

With such a large coastline, wave and wind power is high in supply but underutilized in the north and south. Although not as abundant as solar, wind and wave have optimal locations where they can generate some serious power, especially down the western coast.

Geothermal

Geothermal is also another alternative energy that will contribute to the continents energy future. Despite being mostly concentrated in eastern Africa, there are many fragmented spots of high intensity geothermal potential across the entire continent, such as the Great Rift Valley.

There are many obstacles in the way of Africa unlocking its energy potential. Widespread political and economic turmoil, and evidence of high-level corruption up and down the continent, will make it difficult to drive forward the clean energy revolution. But the world's big energy players cannot ignore the opportunities and foreign investment is inevitable, especially with Europe standing to benefit from CSP technology in northern Africa.

Africa can become the world's clean energy power house, but it will need a lot of help along the way.

Image source: www.desertec-africa.org

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