RENEWABLE ENERGY RECORD

BREAKERSIf we continue to rely on fossil fuels for our energy

Leeds, climate change will get worse. But fortunately, renewable energies which do not harm

the environment are ready to take the place of coal, petrol and oil.

1Hidden inside the mountain near Oban,

Scotland is Britain’s most spectacular power station, Ben Cruachan. At night,

water is pumped 360 meters up the mountain to a reservoir. When demand for electricity is high, usually during the day water falls over the kilometre into an enormous underground cavern, big

enough to hold the Tower of London. The water turns wheels in four huge turbines generating 440 megawatts of electricity.

2

A tower stands opposite a circle of more than a thousand huge mirrors. They turn

from morning to evening and reflect sunlight onto the top of the tower. This

heat produces steam which drives turbines to create electricity. It’s the

PS20, The world’s largest Solar Power Tower. Located near Seville, Spain, it

forms part of a power centre, which when completed, will generate enough energy

for 180,000 homes.

3

In south-western Norway they are building what will be the world’s

largest wind turbine. When completed, it will be 162 meters

tall and will generate enough electricity to power two

thousands homes. After a two-year testing period, the turbine

will be installed in the sea off the coast of Norway alongside more of these impressive machines.

4

Texas is a famous for petrol. But now it is becoming famous for a more environmentally-friendly energy source: wind. The world’s largest wind farm is located is Roscoe,

Texas. Its 627 wind turbines cover an area of about , almost seven times bigger than Manhattan. It

produces almost 800 megawatts, enough for over a quarter of a

million Texan homes. And unlike petrol, wind farms do not generate

or cause global warming.

5Some people say renewable energies are

unreliable and expensive. But the La Rance tidal power plant off the west coast of France proves them wrong. For many years it was the world’s

largest tidal power plant. Now over forty years since it first started operating , its twenty-four 10

megawatt turbines are still generating clean, reliable and cheap electricity

from the power of the tides.

6Almost three quarters of Iceland’s total

energy consumption comes from renewable energies thanks to

geothermal power (the natural heat of the earth ) and hydro-electricity . And there is a plan to make it the world’s

first 100 per cent fossil-fuel-free country country by 2050. The will need to switch

all their road vehicles from petrol to electric power and find a sustainable source of energy for all their fishing

boats. But they believe it can be done.