IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v50y2013icp628-636.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Miracle or mirage? The promise and peril of desert energy part 1

Author

Listed:
  • Cooper, Christopher
  • Sovacool, Benjamin K.

Abstract

Consisting of two parts, this article explores the history and challenges facing the Gobitec project in China, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea, an ambitious proposal to build a multibillion dollar solar power system in the Gobi desert that then exports electricity throughout Northeast Asia. After detailing its primary methods of data collection—research interviews, site visits, and a literature review—this first part of the study details the history of the Gobitec concept and its close relation to the Desertec concept in North Africa and Europe. It then discusses the “promise” of very large solar systems in deserts, namely improved security of supply and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However, the second part of our study finds that such projects also face a list of serious – and perhaps insurmountable – technical, economic, political, and social barriers. That second part concludes by drawing implications for large-scale energy projects and energy policymaking more broadly.

Suggested Citation

  • Cooper, Christopher & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2013. "Miracle or mirage? The promise and peril of desert energy part 1," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 628-636.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:50:y:2013:i:c:p:628-636
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.07.027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148112004533
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2012.07.027?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lilliestam, Johan & Ellenbeck, Saskia, 2011. "Energy security and renewable electricity trade--Will Desertec make Europe vulnerable to the "energy weapon"?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3380-3391, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Xinhai & Vignarooban, K. & Xu, Ben & Hsu, K. & Kannan, A.M., 2016. "Prospects and problems of concentrating solar power technologies for power generation in the desert regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1106-1131.
    2. Kumar, Anil & Prakash, Om & Kaviti, Ajay Kumar, 2017. "A comprehensive review of Scheffler solar collector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 890-898.
    3. Xu, Ben & Li, Peiwen & Chan, Cholik, 2015. "Application of phase change materials for thermal energy storage in concentrated solar thermal power plants: A review to recent developments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 286-307.
    4. Van de Graaf, Thijs & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2014. "Thinking big: Politics, progress, and security in the management of Asian and European energy megaprojects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 16-27.
    5. Escribano Francés, Gonzalo & Marín-Quemada, José María & San Martín González, Enrique, 2013. "RES and risk: Renewable energy's contribution to energy security. A portfolio-based approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 549-559.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Otsuki, Takashi & Mohd Isa, Aishah Binti & Samuelson, Ralph D., 2016. "Electric power grid interconnections in Northeast Asia: A quantitative analysis of opportunities and challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 311-329.
    2. Escribano Francés, Gonzalo & Marín-Quemada, José María & San Martín González, Enrique, 2013. "RES and risk: Renewable energy's contribution to energy security. A portfolio-based approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 549-559.
    3. Tebibel, Hammou & Labed, Sifeddine, 2013. "Performance results and analysis of self-regulated PV system in Algerian Sahara," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 691-700.
    4. Hocine, Amine & Kouaissah, Noureddine, 2020. "XOR analytic hierarchy process and its application in the renewable energy sector," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Pierri, Erika & Binder, Ole & Hemdan, Nasser G.A. & Kurrat, Michael, 2017. "Challenges and opportunities for a European HVDC grid," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 427-456.
    6. Reichenberg, Lina & Hedenus, Fredrik & Mattsson, Niclas & Verendel, Vilhelm, 2022. "Deep decarbonization and the supergrid – Prospects for electricity transmission between Europe and China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    7. Lilliestam, Johan & Bielicki, Jeffrey M. & Patt, Anthony G., 2012. "Comparing carbon capture and storage (CCS) with concentrating solar power (CSP): Potentials, costs, risks, and barriers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 447-455.
    8. Fei Guo & Bas J. Ruijven & Behnam Zakeri & Shining Zhang & Xing Chen & Changyi Liu & Fang Yang & Volker Krey & Keywan Riahi & Han Huang & Yuanbing Zhou, 2022. "Implications of intercontinental renewable electricity trade for energy systems and emissions," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(12), pages 1144-1156, December.
    9. Choi, Hyundo & Anadón, Laura Díaz, 2014. "The role of the complementary sector and its relationship with network formation and government policies in emerging sectors: The case of solar photovoltaics between 2001 and 2009," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 80-94.
    10. Koliou, Elta & Eid, Cherrelle & Chaves-Ávila, José Pablo & Hakvoort, Rudi A., 2014. "Demand response in liberalized electricity markets: Analysis of aggregated load participation in the German balancing mechanism," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 245-254.
    11. Boute, Anatole & Willems, Patrick, 2012. "RUSTEC: Greening Europe's energy supply by developing Russia's renewable energy potential," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 618-629.
    12. Haller, Markus & Ludig, Sylvie & Bauer, Nico, 2012. "Decarbonization scenarios for the EU and MENA power system: Considering spatial distribution and short term dynamics of renewable generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 282-290.
    13. Brinkerink, Maarten & Gallachóir, Brian Ó & Deane, Paul, 2019. "A comprehensive review on the benefits and challenges of global power grids and intercontinental interconnectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 274-287.
    14. Kost, Christoph & Engelken, Maximilian & Schlegl, Thomas, 2012. "Value generation of future CSP projects in North Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 88-99.
    15. Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo & de Castro, Carlos & Arto, Iñaki, 2017. "Assessing vulnerabilities and limits in the transition to renewable energies: Land requirements under 100% solar energy scenarios," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 760-782.
    16. Gasmi, Farid & Hanspach, Philip, 2019. "The European Internal Energy Market’s Worth to the UK," TSE Working Papers 19-1052, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    17. Månsson, André & Johansson, Bengt & Nilsson, Lars J., 2014. "Assessing energy security: An overview of commonly used methodologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-14.
    18. Anthony G. Patt & Elke U. Weber, 2014. "Perceptions and communication strategies for the many uncertainties relevant for climate policy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(2), pages 219-232, March.
    19. Kiriyama, Eriko & Kajikawa, Yuya, 2014. "A multilayered analysis of energy security research and the energy supply process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 415-423.
    20. Johansson, Bengt, 2013. "A broadened typology on energy and security," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 199-205.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gobitec; Desertec; Solar energy;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:50:y:2013:i:c:p:628-636. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.