Greening the Sahara: A Simple Idea

Desalinization of sea water, if a cheap and easy way of doing it could be found, could well lead to a dramatic upsurge in world food production and also to the creation of vast new areas of agricultural production, particularly in the regions of the great deserts of North Africa, China and North America. (And the land down under, of course. Apologies to HossBog for missing Oz on the first draft.)

I don't know much about this subject but I was wondering if the problem might be simpler to solve, particularly in the region of the Sahara desert, than it seems at first glance.

Wouldn't it be possible to simply pump seawater through a pipeline to large flat, plastic covered containment ponds, where the natural heat of the desert sun evaporated the fresh water out of the sea water and channeled it into local irrigation systems?

Obviously there would be hurdles to overcome. Pumping sea water undoubtely requires special pumps and no doubt a sea water pipeline would have to be constructed in ways that would resist corrosion, but the main point, simply getting a lot of water into the desert where it could be desalinated by the sun, seems to be a valid one to me, unless there is something I just don't know about the basic process of evaporating sea water.

The containment ponds would have to have the leftover salt removed of course and something would have to be done with it, but I can't myself, see any great insurmountable reason why such a scheme shouldn't work very well.

It seems too simple. There must be serious objections to such a simple plan. Any reactions to this?

reply to post by ipsedixit


I've thought about this before, a massive solar still. There are places that are slightly below sea level. Syphon may work.

Solar powered pumps, or running the water through a black polypipe solar boiler to create steam?

On a side note, lake ayre in australia was once a massive inland sea, most of it is below sea level. Why not fill it up? The amount of water evaporating from a shallow inland sea would be massive, maybe enough to change rainfall patterns in the red centre? We use about 12% of the land in Aus, all coastal. Imagine the food you could grow on a landmass the size of Australia!

reply to post by HossBog

That's even better.

To me this seems like such an easy way to go about it. The boiler idea could be an extra that is either doable or maybe too pricey or too labor intensive in terms of maintenance. But the basic idea of just getting a lot of water into evaporation ponds where the condensed water vapour could be collected is such a low tech, passive undertaking, that I'm amazed that it isn't already operating in a place like Saudi Arabia where they do have large desalinization plants and mountains of money to play with.

reply to post by ipsedixit


Check out the edit I did on my post. Feel like forming a company? We could make Gadillions.

reply to post by HossBog

I'd be a millstone around your neck. I've already missed my chance at millions anyway. I had the idea of bringing real ice-cream to the UK back in 1975, when they were still "enjoying" edible oil products instead of the real thing.

Interesting idea about the dried up lake bed though. These sorts of ideas seem so innocuous when you compare them to things like weather modification through chemtrails or frying the ionosphere via HAARP.

I think the sane community should have a chance to try an idea once in a while.

reply to post by ipsedixit


look up The Great Man-Made River project one of it's major goals was precisley the greening the Sahara
IMO one of the major reasons Gaddafi was ousted and killed


Virtually unknown in the West: Libya's water resources. The real reason for toppling Quadaffi?www.abovetopsecret.com...


also if you were to attempt to put such an idea in practice you'd wind up the same

Kissinger plan to transform North Africa and Middle East into Turkmenistan forum.prisonplanet.com...
depopulation_linked_merck_pharma_announces_africa_plan www.infowars.com...

www.schillerinstitute.org...

wlym.com...

reply to post by ipsedixit


The dried up lake bed? Lake Ayre is almost 1/3 the size of the US. It's more of a sea bed. It's only called a lake because it doesn't connect to the sea any more. And hey, you're never too old. I can see this happening for less than $50,000. Water will be worth more than oil in 10 years.

reply to post by DerepentLEstranger

I was aware of that and of the strategic importance of the Libyan fresh water aquifer, but that is a limited resource that has to be husbanded carefully. It could be twinned with solar desalinization though as a means of replenishing the aquifer.

I'm interested in the idea, though of just pumping seawater to containment ponds any where there is a reasonably accessible desert. Parts of Peru and Mexico might benefit greatly from this idea as well as Africa.

The idea seems tailor made for the third world. Maybe that's why it hasn't happened. Not enough room for the economic "hit men" to get their game going.

reply to post by HossBog

It just amazes me that this isn't happening already somewhere. Maybe DerepentLEstranger is right about the sinister interests of the Great Powers in making sure that nobody rises above a prone position in the third world.

Wind is the major obstacle to projects of this kind in any desert enviroment. Desert winds are relentless and very destructive, think working in a sand blaster. It could be done though with enough political will and financial incentive 'both hard to come by'....

Several years ago I started to build an organization to approach this issue exactly but on a global scale rather than just the Sahara. I named it Global Preservation Project( My outline can be seen by clicking the name.The page numbers to the outline of the project work, the others have been removed).

Basically, it is a plan to harvest the melting ice burgs, melt lakes, and surface fresh water from melt off and relocating the fresh water as well as habitat creation and stabilization. This project was designed for few reasons:

Bringing fresh drinking water to drought stricken areas
Removing the fresh water from the oceans that disrupt natural currents
Developing habitats and farming communities in non agriculture areas

This project is slow in coming to fruition, but if you Google "Global Preservation Project" you can see the different projects underway.

This idea is just so dead simple and low tech. The only thing that would require sophisticated design would be the plastic or glass coverings over the containment ponds.

Harvesting the icecaps is a much more ambitious and challenging undertaking. It's a great idea but simply pumping seawater into evaporation ponds in the desert is orders of magnitude simpler.

I wish some group living near the ocean in southern California or maybe Baha California (Hello Jesse Ventura) would give this idea a try, even on a miniature basis, just to study it's efficiency and problems.

reply to post by ipsedixit


Unfortunately it isn't that simple. I agree the desalination is a viable addition, I do not deny, however, for the exact reason you based your theory on makes it an impossibility. I will explain:

Your process uses evaporation to desalinate, yet without a habitat, it will simply evaporate again with the same speed as your beginning process. Habitats must be created to slow down the evaporation process or it will be lost to the atmosphere and deposited in a cooler environment. This can be seen in the evaporation of the Dead and Red Seas. I am not saying that your process wont work, as I think it definitely will, but there is more to the process that can not be ignored.

reply to post by Agarta


Unfortunately it is that simple. Underground Aquifier.




Works.




Dammit I have an image that won't embed. Any help?

reply to post by HossBog


LOL not in the Sahara, to create an underground aquifer is not simple. Okay so lets say we fill the tapped oil fields to create the aquifer as a possibility but wait thats what we do anyway and the water is contaminated. In fact underground aquifers would be more expensive and more work.

Edit to say what would the purpose of an underground aquifer be. Well water maybe? Pumped for agriculture okay I can accept that but then you have to worry about fertilization of sand rather than building the habitat to create it naturally while maintaining a surface water supply. Think it through.

reply to post by Agarta


Move some sand and use concrete. You ain't doing too well.

I thought you started some program or movement or something. You live inside the box.

reply to post by HossBog


Cost prohibitive. This stops possibilities altogether. Again think it through.

what you need to do is adjust the climate for long term change not short term which is what you are stating. This can only be done by fixing the habitat.

Living in the box Ha Ha thats funny take the time to read the program and you will see just how far out of the box I went. OR just keep assuming and show your ignorance on the topic.

reply to post by Agarta




Think it through. Cost prohibitive? Show me why. Tell that to the oil rich desert nations. You are running out of steam my friend. Want a glass of water? LOL

reply to post by HossBog


Now that I can see your image(not that I didnt already know what it looks like I reiterate cost prohibited the size you are talking about would be more massive than possible, its results would be so far into the future it would not even be contemplated.

The picture has no location assigned, No matter, it is still a very small section in relation to the vastness of the area not to mention if this was done in the Sahara it would be covered in dunes inside a week due to winds and shifting sand. The picture you posted is a flat non loose sand region NOT the Sahara(Loose sand region). Without wind blocks these little patches would be gone or never get a hold to begin with. So again, developing natural Habitats to maintain the areas naturally is the way to go.

Now that said, These little Aquifers you brought up could be used to help begin and maintain a habitat region on a small scale but in order to reach the large scale, develop large enough and strong enough wind blocks many many of them would have to be created thus cost preventitive.

Its called Sea Water Farming and they already do it.

en.wikipedia.org...

And its so far in the past its not talked about any more. I didn't put a scale on my image, how do you know how big it is. Psychic?
Yeah and I'll be the first to admit I am ignorant of a lot of things but why dis ideas?


Oh and how does the cost compare to harvesting ice bergs? PFFFFFFFFFFF. Dude.........do you realise how much you sound like a JERK?