The grandiosity of the scheme is reminiscent of another failed European megaproject, Desertec. The intuition behind Desertec was to generate PV energy in the Sahara Desert and transport it to Europe. Desertec was set up by a network of politicians, scientists, and economists which itself was founded by the Club of Rome, of all organizations. It was

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in 2009, the Obama administration began offering loan guarantees to emerging energy technologies. Tesla got $456 million, a loan that proved crucial to its later success.