Solar thermal power could generate up to a quarter of the world's electricity by 2050

Solar thermal power has the potential to generate up to a quarter of the world's electricity by 2050, according to a new report by pro-solar groups.

The study, by Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA) and the International Energy Agency's (IEA) SolarPACES group, says huge investments would also create jobs and fight climate change.

"Solar power plants are the next big thing in renewable energy," says Sven Teske of Greenpeace International and co-author of the report.

The report focuses on a technique called concentrating solar power (CSP), which uses mirrors to concentrate the sun's energy and convert it to heat and then to electricity.

CSP plants are suited to hot, cloudless regions such as deserts in the Sahara or the Middle East.

The new report says investments in CSP plants were set to exceed 2 billion euros (US$2.80 billion) worldwide this year, with the biggest installations under construction in southern Spain and California.

"Concentrating solar power could meet up to 7% of the world's projected power needs in 2030 and a full quarter by 2050," the report says, of the most optimistic scenario.

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