The Sahara Desert Action Buttons Home map Back Forward

Case Study: Hassi Messaoud in Algeria The base is deep within the desert. Access is difficult so workers travel in and out by plane. Hassi Messaoud satellite image. The oil base, with 40,000 people, depends on pumping up underground water and flying in food supplies. From oil rigs they drill down hundreds of metres into the rock to obtain the oil and gas. Flares burn off surplus oil and gas; at night they can be seen from space! Pipelines carry the oil hundreds of kilometres to Mediterranean ports on the North African coast. Is this how we should be using the desert??? MORE INFO

Satellite image of Hassi Massaoud Who might live here? (what might the houses be like?) Why does the company need this? Why are there three different coloured squares? (think about the technology)

Oil and gas exploration. Finding oil and gas is hard enough. Getting it out of the ground, and taking it to where you want it to be, is even harder! The cost of producing oil in the Sahara is high. Only large multinational companies, like Shell and BP, can afford the investment. Beneath the sand of the Sahara are layers of sedimentary rock. Trapped within them are oil and gas from the remains of microscopic animals that died millions of years ago. Slowly, the oil and gas rose until they reached a layer of impermeable rock and could not rise any more. See above.

Why oil and gas are unsustainable Burning fossil fuels is a major cause of global warming. When they burn, carbon dioxide and other polluting gasses are released into the air. These gases make the atmosphere retain more heat so it warms the earth. 2 1 There are big problems with being dependent on fossil fuels like oil and gas: they are NON-RENEWABLE and one day they are going to run out. Most experts expect the world’s oil to run out some time in the twenty-first century! What is happening here?

Non-renewable energy These are energy sources that will eventually run out. They can do a lot of damage to the environment when used to make energy.

CASE STUDY: Energy Production in Algeria Click on the link that you would like to know more about. Algeria info The future? Solar power

CASE STUDY: Energy Production in Algeria Algeria is a major oil producer and the world’s sixth biggest natural gas producer. Half the country’s export earnings come from oil and gas. Pipelines carry the gas, compressed into a liquid, under the Mediterranean Sea to Spain, Italy and other parts of Europe. Although reserves should last for many years yet, and there may still be new reserves to find, Algeria is beginning to prepare for the future…

CASE STUDY: Energy Production in Algeria SOLAR POWER: Work has begun on the country’s first solar power plant in the Sahara. Solar power is a renewable source of energy. Unlike fossil fuels, it does not lead to harmful gases in the atmosphere. The plan is to cover large areas of desert with solar panels to soak up the Sun’s energy; they will turn solar energy into electricity. The first solar power plant should be operating by Summer 2010, with the eventual aim of exporting solar power to Europe through cables below the Mediterranean Sea.

CASE STUDY: Energy Production in Algeria The future: The potential for solar power is huge. Algeria is the second largest country in Africa and most of it is desert. In theory, Algeria alone could produce enough power for Western Europe, sixty times over! Check out this WEBSITE for more details.

Fighting over oil?!? You may have seen this film about an American soldier fighting in Kuwait. The story tells how the Americans fought against Saddam Hussein who wanted to take over the Kuwaiti oilfields. Click HERE for a case study of conflict over oil in the desert.