What would it make a substantial change if we could save 175 thousand tons of carbon dioxide emission per year? How will taking fifteen thousand cars off the roads reduce global warming? How will the solar energy affect our overall energy production and contribute to a greener environment? To find the answers, read on.
Abu Dhabi has launched its Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plant, with a budget of $600 million, to promote clean energy rather than banking of its oil-rich sources. Named Shams 1, it provides power output around 100-megawatt, strong enough to light up 20,000 homes. Instead of the photovoltaic cells used by most of the conventional solar plants around the world, Shams 1 has gone a step ahead by harnessing mirrors and lens system for the same. The solar park where Shams-1 is housed, known as Masdar, accounts for 68 percent of green energy produced in the Middle East.
As large as 285 football fields, the solar park has 192 rows of loop and series of parabolic reflectors to generate energy beyond what we could perceive until now. An issue, which has been cropping up time and again, is the desert sand that tends to decrease the efficiency of the mirrors. The Masdar authorities have employed automated trucks for the sole purpose of cleaning.
The inauguration saw the likes of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayad Al-Nahayan and vice president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the latter being Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai.
Abu Dhabi has always been a big player in the oil market. Now, with Shams-1 coming into play, the project has put them ahead as a pioneer in energy market. Undoubtedly, it’s a major stepping-stone for United Arab Emirates’ plan to produce 7 percent of its energy needs from the sun by the next decade.
Certainly, such a plant would surely influence millions of life, making the earth greener, better and healthier!
