Neo-colonial Continuities in the Mediterranean Infrastructure Projects of Atlantropa and Desertec

Herman Sorgel’s gigantic project “Atlantropa” is a prominent European project in terms of infrastructure and territory in the first half of the 20th century. It is an example of a modernity that is necessarily believing in progress through technology – as will be shown the first section of this essay, but it is also profitable in that it historically locates Europe’s current energy policy infrastructure projects in Africa, to which the second section of the essay is dedicated. The vision pursued under the name Destertec envisages the large-scale implementation of renewable energy power plants, especially solar thermal power plants in Northern Africa. Both projects share an unshakeable belief in ecomodernist ideas, meaning the solution of socio-economic and ecological challenges through technology (Gall, 2014). Furthermore, argumentation patterns of the 1920s based in colonial ideology of a Pan-Europa or Eurafrica still serve to advertise development programs in the 21st century. The historical perspective with an overview about “Atlantropa” thus serves as a mean to question justifications of recent European energy projects in Northern Africa.