非洲太阳能吸引欧洲企业投资

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Imagine in this global financial crisis, a couple of companies suddenly decide to invest billions to put solar power plants in the desert. Sounds crazy, well, look at this. Several of Europe’s largest firms are planning to do just that.

"Ladies and gentleman", he says, "here are 13 signatures that show our commitment to the Desertec principles and to a memorandum of understanding."

Among those signing, Deutsche Bank, power giant E.ON, Siemens, and Munich Re which initiated the project, their aim--to build solar farms across northern Africa and the Middle East and transmit the electricity to Europe. The Desertec Industrial Initiative could be one of the largest investments in renewable energy of all time.

"This is a big project", the chairman says. "But it could replace investment in other things. So we’re not talking about additional money, we’re talking about investor switching. Instead of investing in nuclear energy, they want to invest in solar power."

The investments will be massive, some 400 billion Euros or 550 billion dollars will be needed in the next 30 to 40 years, the founders believe. They hope governments in Europe, Africa and the Middle East might pitch in.

"I could imagine the EU pitching in", says the Deutsche Bank representative. "They have funds earmarked for development projects in the Mediterranean or the European investment bank with loans. I’m confident we will find other forms of financing as well."

By 2050 solar power generators could provide up to 15% of Europe's energy and also deliver power to countries hosting the plants, Desertec believes. So far though, the project is little more than a memorandum of understanding.

"Will we face any problems on the way? Of course, we will. This is a very ambitious project as you see, forward beyond Europe by 2050. Most likely there will be some issues to address."

One of these issues, critics say, could be political instability in some nations hosting the power stations.

"We have to ask ourselves", he says, "whether we want to replace dependence on oil with dependence on electricity from other places."

But the founders of Desertec Initiative will hardly let those concerns hold them back. They say the technology is available and the time is now in spite of economic crisis.

For our market place, Middle East, Frederik Pleitgen, cnn Berlin.

Vocabulary:

1.       memorandum of understanding: A document providing a general description of the responsibilities that are to be assumed by two or more parties in their pursuit of some goal(s).

2.       pitch in: to join others and help with an activity协力,做出贡献

3.       earmark: to decide that something will be used for a particular purpose or have something done to it in the future

4.       little more than: 只不过，仅仅是