Can you hear the environmentalists screaming?
That about 24,000 square miles, or about the size of WV. Not to mention the infrastructure to support the operation and the workers, which would probably add at least 50% to it.
Also would seem to require a whole lot of water, which is a little scarce in the desert.
My idea is to grow algae in the equatorial oceans and build ships to scoop it up and process it. All I need is the money to get started.
The thing about algae is it loves sewage and industrial waste, so the water doesn't have to be drinking water, sludge and slime works just as well. That's the added bonus, we can reduce waste while creating fuel, and the by products of the algae can be dumped back in so that their buddies can feast on their rotting remains also.