The night-walkers of Uganda

51

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Fill in the gaps using these key words from the text.
power station
solar
enormous 
energy
grid 
 
source
 
vessel
turbine
desalinated 
shade 
1. A ____________ is a container for liquids.
2. ____________ power is power that comes from the sun.
3. If water is ____________, there is no longer any salt in it.
4. A ____________ is a network of wires for carrying electricity.
5. ____________ means very, very large.
6. A ____________ is a large building that contains machines that produce electricity.
7. ____________ is a slightly dark area where there is no direct sunlight.
8. ____________ is electricity and other forms of power.
9. A ____________ is a machine that uses the pressure of liquid or gas on a wheel to get power.
10. A ____________ is a place that provides something you need or want.
The power of the desert
Level 1
Elementary
Key words
1
Find the information
2
Look in the text and find this information as quickly as possible.
1. What is CSP?
2. What type of energy could Britain provide?
3. How hot is the gas or liquid in the CSP process?
4. How much does a barrel of oil cost at the moment?
5. How much will the new nuclear reactor in France cost?
6. How much of the world’s energy does nuclear power provide?
52

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Scientists say global energy crisis 
can be solved by mirrors and the 
desert sun 
by Ashley Seager
Burning coal and oil to make electricity produces 
a lot of carbon dioxide, which is one of the main 
causes of global warming. A lot of people say that 
nuclear energy is cleaner but others disagree, 
saying that nuclear power stations are danger-
ous. Perhaps the answer is solar power?
Most people think of solar power as a few solar 
panels on the roof of a house producing hot 
water or a bit of electricity. But a new study in 
Germany says that Europe, the Middle East and 
Africa should build enormous solar farms in the 
Sahara desert in North Africa. The scientists who 
produced the report say that these solar farms 
could produce enough electricity to supply the 
whole of Europe and perhaps the whole world.
Every year the sun’s rays produce the same 
amount of energy per square kilometre as 1.5m 
barrels of oil. The scientists, Dr Gerhard Knies 
and Dr Franz Trieb, say that Europe should build 
a new direct current electricity grid to transport 
electricity easily from different sources. Britain 
could provide wind power, Norway could pro-
vide hydroelectric power, and central Europe 
biomass and geo-thermal power. Together with 
concentrated solar power (CSP) the region could 
provide all its electricity needs by 2050 with no 
nuclear power and almost no oil or coal. This 
would also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide 
from electricity production by 70%. 
CSP works by using mirrors to concentrate the 
sun’s rays on a pipe or vessel containing gas or 
liquid that heats up to about 400˚C. This hot gas 
or liquid then drives steam turbines. The mirrors 
are very large and in the shade under them peo-
ple could grow vegetables and water them with 
desalinated water produced in the CSP process. 
People could also use cold water produced in the 
CSP process for air conditioning.
CSP technology stores the hot gas or liquid in 
large containers. This means that the turbines 
can also operate when there is no sunlight and at 
night. The cost of CSP technology is the same as 
oil at $50 a barrel and experts think the cost will 
be just $20 in the future. At the moment oil costs 
$60 a barrel so CSP is cheaper than oil. CSP is 
more expensive than natural gas for producing 
electricity but producing electricity with natural 
gas does not produce desalinated water and cold 
water for air conditioning.
The scientists recommend building the solar 
farms in the Sahara desert for two main reasons. 
First land in the desert is cheap. Secondly, hot 
deserts like the Sahara have three times as 
much sunlight as northern Europe. This is why 
they recommend that the countries of Europe, 
the Middle East and Africa work together to build 
the solar farms and share the electricity. 
Dr Trieb, of the German Air and Space Agency, 
says it is possible and to transport solar elec-
tricity over long distances. A direct current grid 
around Europe and North Africa could produce 
enough electricity by 2050 to make it possible to 
stop using nuclear power and to reduce the use 
of coal and oil. 
Unfortunately, governments do not seem very in-
terested in the idea. Neil Crumpton of Friends of 
the Earth, said: “Most major politicians, particu-
larly Tony Blair and George Bush, do not seem to 
understand how useful CSP could be.” Last week 
more than 30 countries agreed to spend $13.5bn 
on a new nuclear reactor in France. Some sci-
entists say this reactor say will not produce any 
electricity for 50 years and possibly it will never 
produce any. 
Mr Crumpton continued: “Nuclear power provides 
just 3.1% of the world’s energy supply and prob-
ably cannot provide any more. But CSP could 
supply 30% or 300% of the world’s future energy 
needs simply, safely and cheaply. We need to 
spend money on CSP in hot deserts, not trying to 
find more uranium or oil.”