Gerhard Knies

Gerhard Knies did research in elementary particle physics at DESY (Hamburg), CERN (Geneva), SLAC (Stanford) and University of California (Berkeley). In 2003, he founded the "Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation TREC", a network of about 50 experts and professionals in renewable energies and sustainability from European and MENA countries. As coordinator of TREC he organized the development of the DESERTEC concept, which aims at bringing clean power from deserts to a world with 10 billion people. In October 2008 he initiated the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative to organize the implementation of the DESERTEC Concept. He was also chairman of the DESERTEC Foundation's supervisory board. Gerhard Knies passed away in 2017.