GorillaOffTopic, Everything But Gorilla Trades

Have you ever been to the desert? If you have then you have certainly felt the intense magnitude of the heat there. Like the Gorilla, you have probably even pondered the effects of all that heat, and how it could power the world with its solar energy. Well, okay, maybe you hadn’t quite thought about that aspect, but scientists certainly have- and thank goodness!  As it turns out solar power from Africa’s deserts could actually supply all 600 million of it’s poor citizens - who don’t have electricity currently- with power, and it can even be exported to Europe. This was reported by a green energy conference in Nairobi on Thursday. Today, the Gorilla was out in the blistering sun and thought about that very good idea and smiled. After all, why not?  This desert sun could possibly provide the equivalent of 1.5 barrels of oil per square kilometer, as reported by Gerhard Knies, who is project manager for Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), at a meeting of nine African states. He explained that the desert is the largest and best source of solar power and went on to explain how deserts receive 700 times more power per year than all humankind is using! Whoa, now that is a lot of power! The timing could not be better, as so many of Africa’s poor are in desperate need of electricity. Imagine how it could affect their society for the better!  And the better news is that providing solar thermal energy is simple and clean compared to extracting and processing fossil fuels (which we know is harmful to the environment and way too costly to boot). The process of harnessing the sun’s enormous power involves a combination of mirrors and pipes to concentrate the sun’s heat to boil water and drive an old fashion steam turbine. Once you have the mirrors and pipes, the costs are finished, and Mother Nature does the rest. That’s it! ] 

Currently, solar power is being used throughout the world as a supplement to the costly use of fossil fuels, but its use is limited right now. Eventually, the hope is that fossil fuels will become the supplement to renewable solar energy! Well, all the Gorilla can say is, let’s get going on this people! The outrageous costs of fuel are what is behind the movement to harness solar power, and with price of gas in Europe reaching as high as $12 and more per gallon, push has certainly come to shove. Hey, whatever it takes to get this environment healthier and cleaner is what we all want, so to the awesome innovation of harnessing solar power, the Gorilla says ”bring on the heat!”