that the continent is still unable to ensure
food self-sufficiency, given its riches in
terms of land, water ... and phosphates,
of which Morocco holds more than
75% of world reserves. Yields can be
increased considerably by using fertiliser
manufactured from phosphates, without
repeating the mistakes made in Europe.
Numerous African countries are interested.
In order to promote agriculture with greater
respect for ecosystems, the Office Chérifien
des Phosphates is working on a concept
of rational fertilisation that will serve as a
true green revolution in Africa. Associating
Algerian gas and Moroccan phosphate could
makeour region theworld leader in fertilisers.
Morocco has launched the Halieutis
programme aimed at implementing
the sustainable exploitation of fisheries
resources. Our fishing remained small-
scale in comparison with the European
and especially Asian over-equipped
armadas that scour the Mediterranean off
Mauretania … This over-fishing resulted in
the almost total disappearance of certain
species and the near-bankruptcy of certain
inshore fishery sectors. It was catastrophic.
Tuna is a major issue for example.
There is determination today to triple the
GDP of the sector by 2020 by creating
villages of small-scale fishermen, by
developing aquaculture and processing
in order to gain new markets in North
America and the Middle East for example.
Hence the need to protect resources, as
was done for octopus when this risked
disappearance.
Is the renewable energies sector part of
these projects?
Moroccoisshowingthewayinthisdomain.We
rely on imports for 95% of our energy. This is
why we hope to attain 42% renewable energy
in 2020 and reduce this dependence. Large
structuring operations and voluntaristic
master plans have been set up to reach 2000
MW installed load in each of three fields—
solar, windandhydraulic power—in2020.We
are also developing research on the use of
marine energy as in addition to sun andwind,
the country has more than 3500 kilometres
of coastline. We are also working on making
Morocco a green energy exporter in a few
years.
We talk about sustainable energy not
because of the low CO
2
emissions but
also because we think about industrial
integration and regional development
with an accompanying feature for the
most isolated regions where there are few
activities. Energy efficiency must not be
forgotten: care must be taken not to waste
it. The message is easier to get over in
Morocco than in countries like Algeria with
rich gas and oil resources, but the more we
progress in the integration of the Maghreb,
the more strength we shall have to respond
to the issues of sustainable development
and create more resources for everybody.
This requires expertise in high technologies
and, again, we wish to establish ourselves
as a regional platform. In the space sector
for example. We have been using satellite
data in the water and mining sector for
about adecade.Weneed tomeasuremarine
currents with altimetric data provided by
European satellites such as ENVISAT and
Jason in order to set out marine current
power installations. Satellite applications
are also very useful for monitoring fishing.
We would like to develop regional
cooperation in these fields.
A new North-South partnership is needed.
The world is changing, and especially the
Arab countries. Expertise exists in the
South and should be taken into account, but
much training is still needed.
c
i
Temperature of the Atlantic at the end of June 2010. From the Mercator Ocean model at 1/36°. Knowledge of the physical state of the ocean at the surface and at a
depth (state of currents, temperature, etc.) is important for setting up marine current power installations.
© Mercator Océan/MyOcean/CNES Production: Mira Productions.
i
Solar power plant in the Sahara.
© All rights reserved
t
Four-rotor TidalStream SST tidal
turbine units in a typical application.
Artwork © TidalStream
7°C 15°C 23°C
The Concerns - 29
