We have a vision at the Sahara Forest Project where we want to make sure that the more
vegetables - the more tomatoes, peppers, or cucumbers you eat from
a Sahara Forest Project facility,
the less CO2 there is in the atmosphere.
Because we also store CO2 in the ground, in the plants, and in the soil around our facilities.
What we do is simply to make use of sunlight, salt water,
and desert areas
to produce food in a new, in a smarter way
and also to produce fresh water and clean energy.
We do that by combining
a various set of technologies,
environmental technologies, which are already available in the market today.
So to give an example,
the salt water that we use in this project is very, very important.
Obviously, water is important in any agricultural practice.
So first we bring the salt water into our facility.
There we produce fresh water from the salt water using
what is called a reverse osmosis technology.
The salt water, which is a waste product then from that process,
is then used again to cool down the greenhouses.
This wall is a part of our cooling system.
We pump sea water to the top of the wall, let it rinse down,
running through canals like this
and then, when the air from the desert blows through it,
we can cool the greenhouse
with up to 15°C.
So the Sahara Forest Project facility
is situated in Aqaba, Jordan.
It is about 15 kilometers inland from the
the Bay of Aqaba.
It's positioned in a very
important place in
in the region, in Jordan,
where we are able to bring the salt water into our area and then we produce
our vegetables at this farm
and we sell it – the vegetables – both locally,
but now we also have a co-operation with one of the world's leading cruise line companies.
So that we have actually this fall produced
more than 10 different varieties of vegetables and herbs,
which have been sold to the guests onboard these cruise ships that call for Aqaba.
We produce around a hundred kilos of vegetables each week
for the cruise passengers from our facility.
And we do that using only renewable energy and salt water.
At the Sahara Forest Project we also
make it green outside our greenhouses
and this effectof greening the desert is very important for us.
Personally, I'm very optimistic about the future.
We see a lot of positive developments in many, many sectors.
What I'm perhaps more worried about is apathy.
I'm more worried that people, you know, growing up in the world today
will feel so overwhelmed with the challenges that we're facing
that one really needs to lift itself up by the neck and and force oneself's to
to believe that there is a brighter future out there and I'm worried
that we don't create enough hope
and that we don't create – that we're not good enough to communicate
all the fantastic solutions that are out there, that are now
really being developed.
We need to show that the solutions are there.
Because if we don't,
we will be in trouble because then people will lose faith and that's
that's the one thing that we cannot afford in the world today.
All good forces and all forces need to join in the efforts to
to create a brighter and greener future.