Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Africa - The Power-house of Europe

Rationally organised , African natural resources can provide world-wide solutions to the energy crisis .

Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona
, Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission's Institute for Energy, said it would require the capture of just 0.3% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts to meet all of Europe's energy needs.A tiny rectangle ,an area slightly smaller than Wales yet scientists claimed it could one day generate enough solar energy to supply all of Europe with clean electricity. The scientists are calling for the creation of a series of huge solar farms - producing electricity either through photovoltaic cells, or by concentrating the sun's heat to boil water and drive turbines - as part of a plan to share Europe's renewable energy resources across the continent.

Scientists argue that harnessing the Sahara would be particularly effective because the sunlight in this area is more intense: solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in northern Africa could generate up to three times the electricity compared with similar panels in northern Europe.

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