Concentrated solar power (CSP) can provide up to a quarter of the world's electricity needs by 2050, according to a new study.

Concentrated solar power (CSP), which utilizes mirrors to beam sunlight onto water, has the potential to generate massive amounts of electricity, according to a new study conducted by industry groups.

“Concentrating solar power could meet up to 7 percent of the world’s projected power needs in 2030 and a full quarter by 2050,” accroding to the joint report conducted by the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA), environmental group Greenpeace, and the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) SolarPACES group.

According to those estimations, massive investments will be needed in order to improve upon existing technologies. The 28-page report says that 174 billion euros ($243 billion) per year would need to be invested by 2050. Under that scenario, solar power plants would have installed capacity of 1,500 GW.

At the end of 2008 CSP capacity was around 430MW, and worldwide investment in the technology will reach 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion).

CSP uses arrays of hundreds of mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays to temperatures between 400 and 1,000 Celsius (750-1,800 Fahrenheit) to provide energy to run a power plant.

Recently, a research expert noted that the Sahara Desert has the capacity to supply all of Europe’s electricity needs by installing an array of solar panels, due to the strong sun in the region.

“It [North Africa] could supply Europe with all the energy it needs,” Dr. Anthony Patt, a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, in Austria, told scientists at this week’s climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. “The Sun is very strong there and it is very reliable.

Sunshine in the Sahara, according to Patt, is twice as strong as in Spain and is a constant resource rarely blocked by clouds, even in winter.

Just how much are the consistently increasing popularity of electronic gadgets such as iPhones, Blackberries, TV’s and PC’s contributing to a global energy drain?

According to the findings of a new study conducted for the International Energy Agency (IEA), electronic devices currently account for 15% of household electricity consumption but their share is rapidly rising.

The report, called “Gadgets and Gigawatts: Policies for Energy Efficient Electronics” was presented by IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka in Paris, who said that despite the anticipated improvements in the efficiency of electronic devices, the savings will be overshadowed by the rising demand for technology around the world.

According to the study, more than half of the global population subscribes to mobile phone services, and the number of external power supplies that are associated with many electronic devices is more than 5.5 billion.

“Many mobile devices are already far more efficient in their use of power than other devices which run off a main electricity supply,” explained Mr. Tanaka. “Because extending the battery life of a mobile device is a selling point, manufacturers place an emphasis on designing products which require very little power.

“This example shows us what can be achieved. Where no such commercial drivers exist, governments must step in to ensure that we make the most of every energy efficiency opportunity,” he said.

One state, California, is moving ahead with a proposal which would regulate the sale of TV’s that don’t meet with their energy efficiency standards.

There are nearly 2 billion television sets in use, with an average of over 1.3 sets in each home having access to electricity. The projections are for there to be more than 3.5 billion mobile phone subscribers by next year.

The IEA contends that the problem can be reduced by tapping into technologies that are already available, which would slow growth in consumption to less than 1% per annum through 2030.

“This level of energy saving represents a reduction to consumer energy bills by over USD 130 billion in 2030 and the avoidance of 260 GW in additional power generation capacity – more than the current electrical generating capacity of Japan” the IEA says.