Out of Africa Solar Energy From The Sahara Reading Answers

The IELTS Reading consists of different types of questions which have to be answered in an hour. The Reading Passage, “Out of Africa Solar Energy From The Sahara”, is a passage that appeared in the IELTS Reading Exam. Try to find the answers to get an idea of the difficulty level of the passages in the actual reading test.

Here are the question types in the reading test :

• Matching headings [Q1 – Q5]
• Matching features [Q6 – Q9]
• Sentence Completion [Q10 – Q13]

Check the answer key with explanations of “Out of Africa Solar Energy From The Sahara”. Ideally, you should not spend more than 20 minutes for this passage.

Reading Passage

Out Of Africa Solar Energy From The Sahara

Vivienne Wait reports on how the Sahara Desert could offer a truly green solution to Europe’s energy problems.

A For years, the Sahara has been regarded by many Europeans as a terra incognita* of little economic value or importance. But this idea may soon change completely. Politicians and scientists on both sides of the Mediterranean are beginning to focus on the Sahara’s potential to provide power for Europe in the future. They believe the desert’s true value comes from the fact that it is dry and empty. Some areas of the Sahara reach 45 degrees centigrade on many afternoons. It is, in other words, a gigantic natural storehouse of solar energy.

B A few years ago, scientists began to calculate just how much energy the Sahara holds. They were astonished at the answer. In theory, a 90,600 square kilometre chunk of the Sahara – smaller than Portugal and a little over 1% of its total area – could yield the same amount of electricity as all the world’s power plants combined. A smaller square of 15,500 square kilometres – about the size of Connecticut – could provide electricity for Europe’s 500 million people.

‘I admit I was sceptical until I did the calculations myself,’ says Michael Pawlyn, director of Exploration Architecture, one of three British environmental companies comprising the Sahara Forest Project, which is testing solar plants in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Pawlyn calls the Sahara’s potential ’staggering’.

C At the moment, no one is proposing the creation of a solar power station the size of a small country. But a relatively well-developed technology exists, which proponents say could turn the Sahara’s heat and sunlight into a major source of electricity – Concentrating Solar Power [CSP], Unlike solar panels, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, CSP utilises mirrors which focus light on water pipes or boilers to produce very hot steam to operate the turbines of generators. Small CSP plants have produced power in California’s Mojave Desert since the 1980s. The Sahara Forest Project proposes building CSP plants in areas below sea level (the Sahara has several such depressions) so that sea water can flow into them. This water would then be purified and used for powering turbines and washing dust off the mirrors. Waste water would then supply irrigation to areas around the stations, creating lush oases – hence the ’forest’ in the group’s name.

D But producing Significant quantities of electricity means building huge arrays of mirrors and pipes across hundreds of miles of remote desert, which is expensive. Gerry Wolff, an engineer who heads DESERTEC, an international consortium of solar-power scientists, says they have estimated it will cost about $59 billion to begin transmitting power from the Sahara by 2020.

E Building plants is just part of the challenge. One of the drawbacks to CSP technology is that it works at maximum efficiency only in sunny, hot climates – and deserts tend to be distant from population centres. To supply Europe with 20% of its electricity needs, more than 19,300 kilometres of cables would need to be laid under the Mediterranean, says Gunnar Asplund, head of HVDC research at ABB Power Technologies in Ludvika, Sweden. Indeed, to use renewable sources of power, including solar, wind and tidal, Europe will need to build completely new electrical grids. That’s because existing infrastructures, built largely for the coal- fired plants that supply 80% of Europe’s power, would not be suitable for carrying the amount of electricity generated by the Sahara. Germany’s government-run Aerospace Centre, which researches energy, estimates that replacing those lines could raise the cost of building solar plants in the Sahara and sending significant amounts of power to Europe to about $485 billion over the next 40 years. Generous government subsidies will be needed. ‘Of course it costs a lot of money,’ says Asplund. ‘It’s a lot cheaper to burn coal than to make solar power in the Sahara.’

F Meanwhile, some companies are getting started. Seville engineering company Abengoa is building one solar- thermal plant in Algeria and another in Morocco, while a third is being built in Egypt by a Spanish-Japanese joint venture. The next step will be to get cables in place. Although the European Parliament has passed a law that aids investors who help the continent reach its goal of getting 20% of its power from renewable energy by 2020, it could take years to create the necessary infrastructure.

G Nicholas Dunlop, secretary-general of the London-based NGO e-Parliament, thinks companies should begin transmitting small amounts of solar power as soon as the North African plants begin operating, by linking a few cable lines under the Med. ‘I call it the Lego method,’ he says. ‘Build it piece by piece.’ If it can be shown that power from the Sahara can be produced profitably, he says, companies and governments will soon jump in. If they do, perhaps airplane passengers flying across the Sahara will one day count the mirrors and patches of green instead of staring at sand.

adapted from Time Magazine

*terra incognita – Latin, meaning ‘an unknown land’

Questions 1-5

1 a mention of systems which could not be used

2 estimates of the quantity of power the Sahara could produce

3  a suggestion for how to convince organisations about the Sahara’s potential

4 a short description of the Sahara at present

5  a comparison of the costs of two different energy sources

Questions 6-9

6  They have set a time for achieving an objective.

7  They believe that successful small-scale projects will demonstrate that larger projects are possible.

8  They have a number of renewable energy projects under construction.

9  They are already experimenting with solar- energy installations in other parts of the world.

List of Organisations

A Exploration Architecture

B DESERTEC

C ABB Power Technologies

D Aerospace Centre

E Abengoa

F The European Parliament

G e-Parliament

Questions 10-13

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)

Unlike solar panels, CSP concentrates the sun’s rays on boilers by using 10 …………………………..

The resulting heat produces high-temperature 11 …………………………., which in turn moves the turbines which generate electricity.

CSP plants will be situated in 12 …………………………. to allow sea water to run in.

This, when purified, can be used to wash the equipment.

The resulting dirty water will be used for 13 …………………………. around the power plant, and in this way oases will be formed.

Reading Answers

1 Answer: E
Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 7 – line 9

Answer explanation: The selected lines says that “That’s because existing infrastructures, built largely for the coal- fired plants that supply 80% of Europe’s power, would not be suitable for carrying the amount of electricity generated by the Sahara.” This tells us that the use of renewable sources of power cannot be used in the Sahara due to the lack of proper infrastructure as the existing ones are meant only for coal-fired plants.Hence, the answer is E.

2 Answer: B
Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 2 – line 5

Answer explanation: In the quoted lines of Paragraph B, it is said that “In theory, a 90,600 square kilometre chunk of the Sahara – smaller than Portugal and a little over 1% of its total area – could yield the same amount of electricity as all the world’s power plants combined. A smaller square of 15,500 square kilometres – about the size of Connecticut – could provide electricity for Europe’s 500 million people.” These lines give us the estimates of the quantity of power the Sahara could produce and hence the answer is B.

3 Answer: G
Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 2 – line 4.

Answer explanation: In the quoted lines of the last paragraph, it is said that “…companies should begin transmitting small amounts of solar power as soon as the North African plants begin operating, by linking a few cable lines under the Med. ‘I call it the Lego method,’ he says. ‘Build it piece by piece.’” This line points out that Nicholas Dunlop suggests linking North African plants to Sahara to convince organisations about the Sahara’s potential. Hence the answer is G.

4 Answer: A
Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 5- line 6

Answer explanation: In the specified line of Paragraph A, it is stated that “Some areas of the Sahara reach 45 degrees centigrade on many afternoons. It is, in other words, a gigantic natural storehouse of solar energy.”. In other words, the first paragraph discusses a short description of the Sahara at present which might be the beginning of a different future. Hence, the answer is A.

5 Answer: E
Question type: Matching Information

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 10- line 13

Answer explanation: The mentioned lines from Paragraph E says that “…estimates that replacing those lines could raise the cost of building solar plants in the Sahara and sending significant amounts of power to Europe to about $485 billion over the next 40 years. Generous government subsidies will be needed. ‘Of course it costs a lot of money,’ says Asplund. ‘It’s a lot cheaper to burn coal than to make solar power in the Sahara.’” These lines make it clear that this paragraph discusses a comparison of the costs of two different energy sources. Hence the answer is E.

6 Answer: F
Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 4- line 6

Answer explanation: The mentioned line of Paragraph F says that “Although the European Parliament has passed a law that aids investors who help the continent reach its goal of getting 20% of its power from renewable energy by 2020, it could take years to create the necessary infrastructure.” As it is clear that the European Parliament has set a time for achieving an objective to get 20% of power from renewable energy resources, the answer is F.

7 Answer: G
Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 1- line 5

Answer explanation: The specified lines state that “Nicholas Dunlop, secretary-general of the London-based NGO e-Parliament, thinks companies should begin transmitting small amounts of solar power as soon as the North African plants begin operating, by linking a few cable lines … If it can be shown that power from the Sahara can be produced profitably, he says, companies and governments will soon jump in.” As it is clear that e-Parliament believes that successful small-scale projects will demonstrate that larger projects are possible, the answer is G.

8 Answer: E
Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph F, line 1 – line 3

Answer explanation: The lines from Paragraph F says that “Seville engineering company Abengoa is building one solar- thermal plant in Algeria and another in Morocco, while a third is being built in Egypt by a Spanish-Japanese joint venture.” As it is clear that Abengoa has a number of renewable energy projects under construction, the answer is E.

9 Answer: A
Question type: Matching Features

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 7 – line 8

Answer explanation: The relevant lines say that “…Exploration Architecture, one of three British environmental companies comprising the Sahara Forest Project, which is testing solar plants in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.” From these lines, we can conclude that Exploration Architecture is already experimenting with solar- energy installations in other parts of the world like Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Hence the answer is A.

10 Answer: mirrors
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 4

Answer explanation: The provided line says that “Unlike solar panels, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, CSP utilises mirrors…”  As it is clear from the above sentence that CSP concentrates the sun’s rays on boilers by using mirrors, the answer is mirrors.

11 Answer: steam
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 4 – line 5

Answer explanation: The given lines say that “… CSP utilises mirrors which focus light on water pipes or boilers to produce very hot steam to operate the turbines of generators.” This statement points out that the turbines move with the help of the heat produced by the high-temperature steam. Hence the answer is steam.

12 Answer: depressions
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 7 – line 8

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph C says that “The Sahara Forest Project proposes building CSP plants in areas below sea level (the Sahara has several such depressions) so that sea water can flow into them.” From this reference, we can conclude that CSP plants will be situated in depressions or areas below sea level to allow sea water to run in. Hence the answer is depressions.

13 Answer: irrigation
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 10 – line 11

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph C says that “Waste water would then supply irrigation to areas around the stations, creating lush oases – hence the ’forest’ in the group’s name.” From this reference, we can conclude that the resulting dirty water will be used for irrigation around the power plant, and in this way oases will be formed. Hence the answer is irrigation.