Renewable Energy Record Breakers

If we continue to rely on fossil fuels for our energy needs, climate change will get worse. But fortunately, renewable energies which do not harm the environment are ready to

take place of coal, petrol and oil.

Ben Cruchan power station inside moutain

● Hidden inside a mountain near Oban, Scotland is Britain`s most spectular 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, the water falls over a 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.

The power from sun

● 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.

The power from wind

● 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 thousand homes. After a two-year testing peroid, the turbine will be installed in the

sea off the coast of Norway alongside more of these impressive machines.

The world largest wind farm

● Texas is famous for petrol. But now it is becoming famous for a more environmentaly-friendly energy

source: wind. The world`s largest wind farm is located in Roscoe, Texas.It`s 627 wind turbines cover an area of

about 400km2, almost seven times bigger than Manhattan. It produces almost 800 megawatts, enough for over a quather of a million Texan homes. And unlike petrol, wind farms do not generate CO2 or cause global

warming.

Power of the tides

● Some people say renewable energies are unreliable and expensive. But the La Rance tidal power plant off the west of 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 clean, reliable and cheap electricity from the power of the tides.

First 100% fossil fuel free country in the world

● Almost 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 by 2050. They will need to swich all their road vehicles form petrol to electric power and find a sustainable source of energy for all their fishing boats. But they

believe it can be done.

KONIEC

● Prace wykonał: Paweł Sztangierski kl. IV i