Kenyan Students Win Prize for Solar Power Project

 

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

A group of students from Kenya was among winners of the 2017 Zayed Future Energy Prize.

The 10-member team is receiving a $100,000 award to make their school a “green energy” institution.

The Zayed Future Energy Prize winners were recognized at a ceremony in January in Abu Dhabi. The prize is named after the founder¹ of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin² Sultan Al Nahyan.

The award is presented every year through a competitive process. It goes to organizations or individuals with new ideas about renewable energy to help in efforts against global warming.

Scientists have evidence that temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans are slowly rising. They blame the temperature increase on pollution from carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Over the past 100 years, the Earth’s atmospheric³ temperature has risen by between 0.4 and 0.8 degrees Celsius⁴. The United States government says last year was the warmest year on record. “The 2016 globally averaged surface temperature ended as the highest since record-keeping began in 1880,” U.S. scientists reported.

The Kenyan students were recognized for their plan to improve the Starehe Girls’ Centre and School, a secondary school about 20 kilometers north of Nairobi.

The students say they will use some of the prize money to create a 25-kilowatt embedded⁵ solar carport. Under their proposal, the school would set up solar equipment to collect energy from the sun. The system is expected to reduce the school’s dependence⁶ of electric power centers by 20%, or $1,100 a month.

Jane Soita is the Starehe school's director. She noted⁷: “It costs $850 per girl in Starehe Girls Centre. Through this project, savings⁸ in electricity will enable us to support 10 more needy⁹ girls per year.”

The students' plan includes 10 solar-power street lights and 4 solar water heaters. The heaters will give the girls a chance to wash with warm water. The hot water system will also serve the school's food service area and medical center.

The Kenyan team competed in designing and modeling a solar powered car at the Petroleum¹⁰ Institute in Abu Dhabi. The car’s solar panel creates electricity from sunlight. The students tested their vehicle in a race. It finished in fourth place out of 15 schools.

The team’s success has led to at least one offer of more money for the school. Kenya’s Ministry¹¹ of Education, through the National Commission of Science and Innovation, promised an additional $20,000.

A representative of the Solar Sisters organization promised to partner with the school in empowering the girls on clean energy. Solar Sisters works with women interested in setting up solar energy businesses. The organization operates in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. But the project had an effect on the representative, who promised to extend Solar Sisters’ work to Kenya.

The Starehe Girls Centre sits on 55 hectares of land. Andrew Simolo is a project mentor¹² and Geography teacher at the school. He notes that, “Fifty percent of the school is covered with a forest and a water reservoir. We believe ecosystems¹³ sustain life.”

The school administration and teachers believe in protecting the environment. They have a custom of asking every visitor at the school to plant a tree on the property.

The ideas suggested by the Kenyan students show their great potential.

“We are young ambassadors of change in the world through creative thinking and implementing¹⁵ a clean energy development project,” noted Wilkista Onyango. She is a Starehe Girls graduate and served as a project leader.

Young minds play an important role in leading others to developing technology. This will help to fight issues facing the world, such as climate change and sustainable energy.

Words in This Story

carport -- n. a shelter for a car that has open sides and that is usually attached to the side of a building

sustain - adj. able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed

mentor - n. someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person

innovation - n. a new idea, device, or method

implement¹⁴ - v. to make (something) active or effective

embedded – adj. to make something a part of

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

3 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

6 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

13 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

14 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

15 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句