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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Green energy for Africa. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Africa may be able to leapfrog past fossil fuel dependence by establishing a network to let countries share wind and solar energy. This according to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. UC Berkeley environmental scientist Grace Wu says that it’s difficult for many African countries to meet their energy needs, despite having abundant solar and wind resources.
GRACE WU (UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory):
And we realized that these countries can pool and share these resources in a way that actually minimizes the costs across the power system as a whole, as well as reducing the environmental impact.
HIRSHON:
She and her colleagues have developed a resource mapping tool that shows how countries can work across borders to bring energy on line faster, and cheaper, and distribute it more evenly across the vast African continent. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.
Story by Bob Hirshon