Yeah, people always seem to forget that most deserts have life. Then there's the clans of nomads that live in the Sahara. The need for, at least initially, military protection and patrols. Someone has to keep the power lines/pipes from being destroyed. And, of course, the countries surrounding the area aren't the most stable either.

The systems needed to control the automated surveillance drones coordinating the security teams would be interesting though.

A green energy solution would be nice but I have a hard time seeing covering Sahara in solar panels being it. To many variables, to big a project. Besides everybody want local solutions for national security reasons anyways.

>> "I think the past 263 years (since Franklin's kite experiment) have shown us electricity is a way of progressing

It would be more fair to give this honor to Faraday since he invented the electrical motor and other uses for electricity while Franklin proved lightning is electricity and invented the lightning rod. Having your house not burn down is beneficial to progress, in that you can spend less time building houses, but doesn't really fuel progress in itself.

I've always felt that Franklin steals the thunder by having a better, more dramatic story - the kite and all that. A genius in his own right though.