Nationality Norwegian Name Sahara Project | Education Biologist | |
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Title Chief Executive Officer | ||
Board member of Sahara Forest Project |
Sahara forest project1
The Sahara Forest Project is a scheme that aims to provide fresh water, food and renewable energy in hot, arid regions as well as re-vegetating areas of uninhabited desert. This proposal combines saltwater-cooled greenhouses with solar power technologies, either directly using Photovoltaic (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP) and technologies for desert revegetation. It is claimed that these technologies together will create a sustainable and profitable source of energy, food, vegetation and water. The founding team behind the Sahara Forest Project was composed of experts from Seawater Greenhouse Ltd, Exploration Architecture, Max Fordham Consulting Engineers and the Bellona Foundation. The scale of the proposed scheme is such that very large quantities of seawater would be evaporated. By using locations below sea level, pumping costs would be eliminated. A project in Qatar has been completed, and pilot projects in Jordan and Tunisia have been initiated.
Contents
- Sahara forest project1
- Sahara Forest Project From vision to reality
- Pilot in Qatar
- Jordan agreement
- CEO Joakim Hauge
- References

Sahara Forest Project: From vision to reality
Pilot in Qatar

Sahara Forest Project's first pilot facility was built in Qatar and officially opened in December 2012 by then HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The pilot results were better than expected. The pilot results have guided the next steps, a test and demonstration center providing the first commercial scale of the full Sahara Forest Project value chain.
Jordan agreement

On 22 June 2014, the Sahara Forest Project signed an agreement with The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Amman for establishing a Sahara Forest Project Launch Station and related activities in Jordan. The Launch Station will be the first step towards a full-scale Sahara Forest Project Centre in Aqaba, Jordan. The Launch Station will contain a saltwater-cooled greenhouse in combination with solar power technologies and facilities for outdoor cultivation and revegetation. The Qatar plant was dismantled in 2016, and is expected to be operational in Jordan in 2017 after being shipped.
CEO Joakim Hauge

Joakim Hauge (born July 1973) is a Norwegian biologist who is the Chief Executive Officer for The Sahara Forest Project. He has previously been advising national and international institutions such as the EU Biofuels Technology Platform.

He has lectured widely on the subject of innovation and sustainable solutions to combat climate changes and delivered talks at UN side events at the Climate Negotiations in Qatar 2012 (COP18 Doha, Chatham House) and events organized by The Economist.
