The village of Jericho lies just over 70km from the South African capital, Pretoria. But like millions of other South Africans, residents of Jericho have limited or no electricity, so watching the World Cup has been practically impossible. As Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reports, Jericho’s residents are now watching the tournament with a little help from solar power.
Texas, a US state that first grew rich from oil, is now turning to wind-power for its next energy bonanza. The biggest windmill farm in the US has recently sprung up in the Texas town of Roscoe, which has the capability of generating power to thousands of homes. The promise of a plentiful, carbon emissions-free energy source has attracted billions of dollars to the US from international investors. Al Jazeera’s Tom Acerman reports from Roscoe, a place locals call the “Saudi Arabia of wind”. [August 4, 2010]
An experimental plane, powered only by rays from the sun, has landed safely in Switzerland after successfully completing its first 24-hour test flight. The “Solar Impulse” took off on Wednesday from Payerne airfield shortly after dawn and touched down a day later having proved that overnight solar-powered flight is possible. Clear blue skies meant that the prototype aircraft was able to soak up plenty of solar energy as it made a gradual ascent to a final altitude to 27900 feet or 8500 metres and then flew in darkness using energy stored up during the day. Pilot Andre Borschberg endured freezing conditions overnight and ended the test flight with a picture-perfect landing. Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports.
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