The Red Sea dam is a speculative macro-engineering proposal put forward in 2007 by a group of scientists and engineers. Although the authors' intentions are to explore "the ethical and environmental dilemmas and some of the political implications of macro-engineering", the proposal has attracted both criticism and ridicule.
Proposal
The idea is to dam the Red Sea at its southern end where the Bab-al-Mandab Strait is only 29 km (18 mi) wide. Natural evaporation would rapidly lower the level of the enclosed Red Sea. The dam would also lower the Red Sea by about 2.1 meters per year (6.8 feet per year). Water rushing back into the sea would then drive turbines to generate electricity. The dam would have the potential to generate 50 gigawatts of emissions-free hydroelectric power. In comparison, the largest nuclear power plant in the United States has an output of 3.2 gigawatts.
Implications
The proposal's authors point out that "Macro-engineering projects of this size cause massive destruction of existing ecologies", a point emphasized by critics who note the damage caused by current, far...
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