HELPING THINGS FORWARD

This page describes some things to do to help make the DESERTEC concept a reality.

Online campaign in support of the DESERTEC concept

Please lend your support to an online campaign to make politicians aware of the importance of the DESERTEC concept. The main page for the campaign is at www.trecers.net/yourvoice.html where further information may be found.

Early Day Motion (EDM) 1871 07-08

PLEASE NOTE: All EDMs lapsed at the end of the parliamentary session on 2008-07-25. In the new parliamentary session in the Autumn, there is likely to be a successor to EDM 1871 07-08.

If you are a UK citizen, please write to your MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motion (EDM) 1871 07-08 which calls on the Government to endorse the DESERTEC concept formally and to work with its international partners to advance the concept.

You may find out who your MP is and write to them directly via the free WriteToThem service.

To see whether your MP has already signed the EDM, click on Early Day Motion (EDM) 1871 07-08. If he or she has signed it, please write to thank them because this helps to show the level of support amongst voters.

Here is an example of the kind of letter you may write:

Dear XXX,

EDM 1871 07-08

If you are eligible and have not already done it, please will you sign the above EDM, urging the Government to endorse and promote the "DESERTEC" concept developed by the "TREC" international network of scientists and engineers. Otherwise, please encourage your parliamentary colleagues to sign it.

Information about the DESERTEC concept can be found on www.trec-uk.org.uk and on www.desertec.org. The concept has now been endorsed by several high-profile organisations and individuals, as described on www.trec-uk.org.uk/endorsements.html.

For your convenience, the text of the EDM is reproduced here:

That this House notes that Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology, a means of capturing solar energy from deserts, has the potential to generate a substantial proportion of Europe's future electricity needs; notes that it would be feasible and cost-effective to transmit energy derived from desert based CSP plants in North Africa to Europe via the creation of a high voltage direct current (HVDC) super-grid, as this would restrict transmission losses to just three per cent. per 1,000 km; further notes that the cost of collecting solar thermal energy equivalent to the energy output of one barrel of oil is currently about US$50 and is likely to fall to around US$20 in the future, which is substantially less than the current world price of oil; welcomes the work that has been done by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Co-operation (TREC) in promoting the development of CSP and an integrated Europe and North Africa-wide HVDC super-grid; and calls on the Government to endorse TREC's proposals formally and to work with its international partners to advance the concept.

With thanks in anticipation,

Yours sincerely,

You may copy and paste this text into the form provided by the WriteToThem service and edited it as you wish. Please make sure that your letter includes links to the TREC and TREC-UK websites and the text of the EDM.

Please note, this EDM is valid until the end of the 07-08 session on the 22nd of July 2008. It is likely that a new EDM to the same effect will be introducted for the session 08-09.