Energy from the Desert: Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Systems: Socio-economic, Financial, Technical and Environmental Aspects

Article Type: Books and resources From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 21, Issue 1

Edited By Keiichi Komoto, Masakazu Ito, Peter van der Vleuten, David Faiman and Kosuke KurokawaEarthscanLondonAugust 2009240 pp.ISBN 9781844077946£85.00

The world’s deserts are sufficiently large that, in theory, covering a fraction of their landmass with PV systems could generate many times the current primary global energy supply. The third book in the energy from the desert series examines the socio-economic, environmental, and financial issues surrounding the use of very large-scale photovoltaics (VLS-PV). It provides detailed coverage of technology and financing options (including recent and future trends in PV technology), potential social benefits such as desalination and agricultural development, and environmental and ecological impacts of systems and how these can be monitored, illustrated by case studies from the Sahara and Gobi Deserts. The concluding section consists of a roadmap outlining the options and opportunities for future implementation of VLS-PV. Building on the key concepts and case studies of previous volumes, this will be a key text for policy makers and investors in the field.