Costs and benefits of afforestation with renewable electricity-based desalination: Case study for Egypt

Abstract

About 95% of Egypt is desert and 5% of the land is inhabited by more than 95% of the population. Aim of this research is to show how Egypt can make use of its plentiful renewable resources, available land area, and access to the sea, to establish cost-effective afforestation irrigated with renewable energy-based seawater desalination for land degradation mitigation. This carbon dioxide removal opportunity offers to sequester up to 0.37 GtCO₂ annually at an average CO₂ sequestration cost of 155 €/tCO₂ by mid-century. By 2100, a total of 34 GtCO₂ is estimated to be sequestered in an area of 132,500 km². The CO₂ sequestration costs decrease from 420 €/tCO₂ in 2030, at the start of the project, to about 80 €/tCO₂ by 2100. Regions with cooler climate and closer to the coastline, such as the North Western region of Egypt, offer the least cost CO₂ sequestration with values as low as 40–50 €/tCO₂ by 2070. The low cost of renewable electricity, especially solar photovoltaics, and the increasing sequestration rate of trees as they mature drive down costs. This research highlights how Egypt can use afforestation with renewable energy-based desalination to sequester CO₂ while combatting land degradation and yielding economic benefits.