Energy Bands for a vegetation belt around Dubai

With wide motor roads and high solar radiation, Dubai has the best conditions for generating large amounts of energy with Energy Bands: over 5 TWh per year can potentially be generated by Energy Bands when fully developed on all suitable roads.

In addition, the UAE has years of proven expertise in desalinating seawater - a process that is comparatively energy-intensive and is therefore also increasingly powered by green energy in the UAE. The 5 TWh/a can be used to desalinate over 2.5 billion cubic meters of seawater per year.

Since the UAE is striving for greater agricultural independence and has also already established numerous organic farms, it makes sense to use the 2.5 billion m3 of water for the greening of areas around Dubai with a desalination plant to be built specifically for this purpose: Around 600 km2 of land could thus be converted into agricultural vegetation area.

Currently, the majority of electricity generation in the United Arab Emirates is still done with fossil fuels - but the country is investing heavily in renewables

Of the approximately 140 TWh/a of electricity, about 54 TWh is generated in Dubai. And there, the declared will of Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktum is to transform Dubai into a global center for clean energy by 2050 - within the framework of the "Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050". Accordingly, renewable energy capacities are being expanded rapidly.

Highways in Dubai are usually ten to fourteen lanes wide and therefore offer optimal conditions for Energy Bands due to the high level of sunlight

Over 400 kilometers of highways are suitable for Energy Bands in Dubai - enabling Dubai to generate over 5 TWh of electricity per year

Since the Energy Bands with their dark photovoltaic surfaces are installed along car roads that are already darker than the surrounding area, there is also only a very slight negative albedo effect.

Google Earth - Stiftung Altes Neuland Frankfurt

Over 400 kilometers of highways are suitable for Energy Bands in Dubai - with the 5 TWh/a generated, Dubai can desalinate over 2.5 billion cubic meters of water per year

Dubai has the expertise for desalination on a large scale: The Jabal Ali complex is the largest desalination plant in the world, producing over 700 million cubic meters of drinking water per year.

The desalinated water can be used for the greening of the desert - due to the climate this should be based on economical subsurface irrigation

The principle of subsurface irrigation can certainly be transferred to green or agricultural land: There must only be an impermeable layer in the soil, above which the water-bearing layer can emerge

Natural oases are created in a similar way: A layer of soil that is impermeable to water ensures that incoming water from a spring, a river or even groundwater, which only penetrates the layer at certain points, can be collected and does not immediately seep away again. If such layers (e.g. of clay) are created at a depth of about 2 to 3 meters, the soil above can be "soaked" with water from the desalination plants without it immediately disappearing again. The water is not poured onto the soil from above, but distributed in the soil through a pipe system (e.g. made of clay pipes) below the surface. The plants can extract their water from this saturated soil from above with their roots. Research concepts already exist for this, but they require suitable test fields – for example in the desert areas around Dubai.

About 600 km2 of desert could be turned into green land with this amount of water - this vegetation area can serve as a research area, a recreation area for the Dubai‘s population and tourists or an agricultural area

The planting of such a green belt around Dubai can be the subject of research and development for desert greening - a beautiful model is the Tarim Desert Road

The Tarim Desert Road was planted with 20 million plants in 2003 to protect it from sand drifts. There, in the Turpan Basin, the largest botanical garden for Asiatic desert flora has been created, with 700 different desert plants, 50 of which are endangered species. The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve Center could also create such an ecological, green research belt around Dubai.

The Emirates has expertise in organic farming and also in making agriculture an experience for the local people and tourists

Industrial agriculture does not make as much sense in Dubai as organic farms, which produce high-quality products, put a beautiful landscape belt around Dubai and at the same time have experiential value for all people in the region. Over 100 farms in the Emirates already produce organic products.

Conclusion: Dubai can use its excellent highway infrastructure and its expertise in seawater desalination to green a large part of its land area with the help of the Energy Bands and make it usable for agricultural self-sufficiency