PBS高端访谈:摩洛哥将撒哈拉沙漠变成了一片太阳能绿洲（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: Next, we turn to Morocco, home to the largest solar energy plant in theworld. Today, the planet Earth meets over 80 percent of its energy needs with either coal, oil orgas. But as climate science and breakthrough technology disrupt the energy sector, Moroccois taking advantage of an abundant natural resource, unobstructed sunlight, to power partof the North African nation.

Special correspondent Monica Villamizar looks at a giant $9 billion project. It's part of ourongoing series, Peril and Promise, on the challenge of climate change.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Glimmering in the Sahara Desert, a first-of-its-kind solar energyplant. Noor, which means light in Arabic, is so vast, it can be seen from space. From the air, it'san ocean of reflective mirrors, but on the ground, as we drive into Noor, sunglasses aremandatory protection from the blinding rays.

MUSTAPHA IBARRITANE, Engineer: I like it. It's a great project, great opportunity.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Twenty-eight-year-old Mustapha Ibarritane is part of the team of localengineers working for the project. Noor is owned by the state of Morocco and built by Spanishcompany SENER. The project is based in Ouarzazate, a tiny tourist town at the edge of thedesert.

MUSTAPHA IBARRITANE: In Morocco, we don't have petrol, we don't have gas. To beindependent, to have our own energy, we have chosen to use clean energy, because of theclimate change challenge.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Morocco does have sunlight, about 3,000 hours of sun every year. Andharnessing that light is an evolutionary leap for the country.

MUSTAPHA IBARRITANE: Right now, it's the most popular solar project in the world. I'mproud to be part of this project.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Noor uses CSP, or concentrated solar power. Concave mirrors directthe sun to a middle tube to heat an oil solution. The mirrors rotate as the sun moves, likesunflowers. The heated fluid, which reaches 750 degrees Fahrenheit, produces steam to power aturbine. The king of Morocco is making a huge bet on clean energy. And the goal is thatrenewables will power half of this country by 2040. Within this strategy, Noor, the solar plant, is the flagship project. The North African nation says it wants to be the Saudi Arabia of solarenergy, tapping its vast solar reserve.

Morocco's king inaugurated Noor, and flipped the plant's on switch in February of 2016.

PADDY PADMANATHAN, CEO, ACWA Power: This was a huge, brave decision at the timewhen they took it -- 2009-'10, everybody was laughing. It was a very expensive. It was a verybrave decision.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Back in 2003, the think tank Club of Rome came up with anambitious project called Desertec. The idea, harness solar across the Sahara to power all ofEurope.

FRANCISCO STIPO, Club of Rome: Desertec set the guidelines on how to producerenewable energy in the desert to supply electricity to Europe.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Francisco Stipo is president emeritus of the Club of Rome in the U.S.

FRANCISCO STIPO: Now other organizations are implementing the Desertec concept.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Stipo says the Noor plant in Morocco and another plant underdevelopment in Tunisia are pilots of the Desertec idea. The plan originally had ambitions toopen solar energy farms across the Sahara, but the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 and terroristattacks on gas facilities in Algeria forced them to scale back.

FRANCISCO STIPO: Geopolitical instability has always been the main obstacle for theimplementation of these kind of projects.

SARAH LADISLAW, Center for Strategic and International Studies: Renewable energycontinues to be the fastest growing segment of the energy space.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Sarah Ladislaw is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic andInternational Studies. She says there is economic risk to any new large infrastructuretechnology.

SARAH LADISLAW: The downside with any project that is groundbreaking is that you aregoing to experience cost, or logistical or technological or market-based hurdles that you mightnot have expected. The upside is that, once you have done it, then we know more about thecosts and the ability, for those costs to decline over a period of time.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: CSP's critics say it isn't cost-effective. Noor's price tag was $9 billion. Long-term, it could recover the investment if the technology doesn't become outdated tooquickly. Before the government of Morocco started building the Noor plant in the town ofOuarzazate, the area was best known as a tourist stop, with breathtaking sights, and its ownminiature version of Hollywood.

“Game of Thrones,” “Gladiator” and “Lawrence of Arabia” were all filmed in the area. The classic “Casablanca” actually hinted at why concentrated solar power technology is a challenge toimplement in Morocco. It requires vast amounts of water.

ACTOR: I came to Casablanca for the waters?

ACTOR: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.

ACTOR: I was misinformed.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Engineer Mohsine Ait Ali showed us this manmade lake that was builtjust so Noor could operate. He said the reservoir addresses the plant's water demands.

MOHSINE AIT ALI, Engineer (through translator): The solar complex uses about sixmillion cubic feet of water each year, and that is only about 1 percent of the storage capacityof the lake.

MUSTAPHA IBARRITANE: It's distributed, the water, to all the plant on site.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: The engineers are most excited to talk about the next phase, stillunder construction, Noor 3.

MUSTAPHA IBARRITANE: This is the tower. After the construction, it will be the highestbuilding in Africa, with 246 meters.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: The tower looms over Noor 3. It will incorporate a newer technology, where flat mirrors bounce the sun's rays to the tip of the tower.

MUSTAPHA IBARRITANE: So here, in Noor 3, we have around 7,000 mirrors.

MONICA VILLAMIZAR: The solar energy is stored in molten salts, which means the plant cankeep making electricity for seven hours after sunset. When it's finished later this year, Noor willprovide electricity to over two million people.

It has generated high expectations for Morocco and the future of solar power. For the “PBSNewsHour,” I'm Monica Villamizar in Ouarzazate, Morocco.

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：接下来，我们将目光转向摩洛哥，那里拥有世界上最大的太阳能发电厂。今天，这个名为“地球”的发电厂，使用煤炭、石油或天然气，满足了80%以上的能源需求。但随着气候科学和突破性技术在能源领域的作用，摩洛哥正利用丰富自然资源的优势，也就是充足的阳光，为部分北非国家提供电能。特约记者莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔着眼一个巨大的90亿美元的项目。这是我们正在播出的系列节目，危险和承诺，关于气候变化为我们带来的挑战。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：撒哈拉沙漠的希望，一座史无前例的太阳能发电厂。Noor，在阿拉伯语中，它的意思是光，它是如此巨大，从空中都可以看到它的身影。从空中鸟瞰，它是一片反射镜的海洋，但在地面上，当我们驱车来到Noor时，太阳镜则是一道强制性的保护，以躲避刺眼的强光。

穆斯塔法·艾巴瑞坦，工程师：我喜欢这里。这是个伟大的项目，蕴含着巨大的机会。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：二十八岁的穆斯塔法·艾巴瑞坦是该项目当地工程师团队中的一员。Noor是由摩洛哥国有，由西班牙公司SENER承建。该项目位于瓦尔扎扎特，沙漠边缘的一个旅游小镇。

穆斯塔法·艾巴瑞坦：在摩洛哥，我们没有汽油，我们没有天然气。为了实现能源独立，我们选择使用清洁能源，因为气候变化。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：摩洛哥的确拥有阳光，年均照射时长约达3000小时。对于光的管控利用是这个国家进步的飞跃。

穆斯塔法·艾巴瑞坦：现在，它是世界上最受欢迎的太阳能项目。作为这个项目的一员，我感到很自豪。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：Noor使用的是CSP，或叫集中太阳能发电。凹面镜将阳光引导到中管，对油溶液进行加热。镜子跟着太阳旋转，就像向日葵一样。液体受热，达到华氏750度，产生蒸汽，驱动涡轮机。摩洛哥国王对清洁能源下了巨大的赌注。其目标是，到2040年，可再生能源将为该国提供一半电力能源。

在这一战略的引领下，Noor太阳能发电厂，成为了首屈一指的大项目。这个北非国家说，它希望在太阳能领域成为沙特阿拉伯，挖掘其巨大的太阳能储备资源。摩洛哥国王为Noor举行了落成仪式，并令工厂在2016年二月开工生产。

帕地·巴马纳丹，CEO，ACWA电力：这是一个重大而又勇敢的决定，当2009年10月他们做出这项决定时，人人都在笑。它非常昂贵。这是一个非常勇敢的决定。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：2003年，智库机构罗马俱乐部提出了一个雄心勃勃的项目，名为Desertec。这个想法，就是管理利用横跨撒哈拉的太阳能，供电整个欧洲。

弗朗西斯科·史帝波，智库机构罗马俱乐部：Desertec就如何在沙漠中生产可再生能源，为欧洲提供电力，提出了指导方针。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：弗朗西斯科·史帝波是罗马俱乐部美国分部的名誉主席。

弗朗西斯科·史帝波：现在其他组织都在实践Desertec的概念。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：史帝波说摩洛哥Noor发电厂以及突尼斯另一个在建的发电站，是Desertec理念的试点项目。该计划原本打算在撒哈拉地区开设大规模太阳能发电场，但2011年的阿拉伯之春起义，以及对阿尔及利亚天然气设施的恐怖袭击迫使他们缩减了规模。

弗朗西斯科·史帝波：地缘政治不稳定一直是这类项目实施的主要障碍。莎拉·拉蒂丝洛，战略与国际研究中心：可再生能源继续成为能源领域增长最快的部分。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：莎拉·拉蒂丝洛是战略与国际研究中心的一名高级研究员。她说，任何新的大型基础设施技术都存在经济风险。

莎拉·拉蒂丝洛：任何具有开创性的项目，其缺点都是，你要经历成本，或后勤，或技术，或基于市场的障碍，而这些你可能未曾预料。而优点是，一旦你做到了，我们就对成本和能力有进一步了解，并能让它在一段时间内有所下降。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：针对CSP项目的批评人士说，这不划算。Noor的标价是90亿美元。长期而言，只要技术没有迅速过时，就可以收回投资。之前，摩洛哥政府开始建设在瓦尔扎扎特镇的Noor工厂，这个地区曾是最著名的旅游景点，美得令人窒息，是好莱坞的缩小版。

“权力的游戏，“角斗士”和“阿拉伯的劳伦斯”都曾在这里拍摄。经典电影《卡萨布兰卡》实际上暗示了，为什么集中太阳能发电技术，对于摩洛哥而言，实施起来具有挑战。它需要大量的水。

男演员：我到卡萨布兰卡为了水吗？

男演员：水？什么水？我们在沙漠里。

男演员：我被误导了。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：工程师穆赫辛·艾德·阿里向我们展示，这个人工湖的建成只是为了Noor可以投产。他说这个人工湖解决了工厂的用水需求。

穆赫辛·艾德·阿里，工程师（通过翻译）：这个太阳能发电厂每年会用掉约六百万立方英尺的水，而这仅仅是该湖存储容量的约1%。

穆斯塔法·艾巴瑞坦：它会把水分布到发电厂各处。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：工程师们最兴奋就是谈论到，仍在建设中的下期工程，Noor 3。

穆斯塔法·艾巴瑞坦：这是塔。建成后，它将成为非洲最高的建筑物，有246米。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：这座塔赫然耸立在Noor 3的现场。它将采用一种较新的技术，即平板反射镜，将太阳光线反射到塔上。

穆斯塔法·艾巴瑞坦：所以在这里，在Noor 3，我们大约有7000面镜子。

莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔：太阳能被储存在熔盐中，这意味着该厂可以在日落后的七小时内维持供电。今年晚些时候，当它建成之时，将可向超过二百万人提供电力。它激发了摩洛哥对太阳能未来的崇高期望。PBS NewsHour，我是莫妮卡·威廉米萨尔，摩洛哥，瓦尔扎扎特，为您报道。