As we look ahead, we should seek to determine the broader implications of the Fukushima tragedy, which has revived the ongoing debate over nuclear safety and the issue of safe energy supplies.

(A shorter version of this article is published on South China Morning Post on April 1, 2011 under the title "Plug into the Power of China's Deserts"
The DESERTEC Concept offers a solution that provides plentiful supplies of safe and clean energy using technologies that are available today: Within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than mankind consumes within a year. The idea is to harness the sun’s power in deserts where it is most abundant and transmit it through an integrated grid. CSP technology is used to capture heat from the sun with specialised mirrors to boil water and generate electricity with a steam turbine. And with the help of Ultra High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC) transmission lines, this energy can be transmitted over thousands of kilometers to centers of demand. By linking up a multitude of different types of renewable energy sources – some of which provide power on demand – across long distances, the DESERTEC Concept offers high levels of robustness and resilience in energy supplies.