CAIRO: Germany and Algeria unveiled plans to on Wednesday to cooperate more closely on renewable energy sources. The plan was announced during Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's recent visit to Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany will work with Algeria on solar and renewable energy in addition to helping with the exploitation of oil and gas reserves. Merkel also stressed the importance of the Desertec solar program. Desertec, the globe's most ambitious project for alternative power, aims to supply more than 20 percent of Europe's energy needs within 10 years by harnessing solar energy in northern Africa. Morocco has also been involved in Desertec plans. Algeria has announced involvement in several renewable energy programs over the last year, including the Sahara Solar Breeder Project in cooperation between Algerian and Japanese universities. The project believes solar power plants in the Sahara desert could provide half the world's electricity needs by 2050. The project aims to begin by building a silicon manufacturing plant in the desert to transform silica in the sand into silicon of sufficiently high quality for use in solar panels. Solar power plants will be constructed using the solar panels, and some of the electricity generated will supply the energy needed to build more silicon plants to produce more solar panels, to produce more electricity. BM
