Human-induced climate change and its impacts pose a huge challenge to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by some 80% by 2050. This will provide large economic incentives to develop renewable energy industries. Australian desert regions have huge renewable energy sources: solar radiation, wind and geothermal supplies. Besides local small scale enterprises, these sources can be linked by high voltage DC grids to distant markets. Local power can also be generated by the pyrolysis of biomass and town waste, supplying gas, electricity and charcoal that can be sequestered in the soil, enriching market gardens and earning carbon credits.