"One big miscalculation was that the power plant requires far more steam to run smoothly and efficiently than originally thought, according to a document filed with the California Energy Commission. Instead of ramping up the plant each day before sunrise by burning one hour’s worth of natural gas to generate steam, Ivanpah needs more than four times that much help from fossil fuels to get plant humming every morning." MARKETWATCH
I have read that the whole area smells like fried chicken.
No bright light from the beams, no insects, no brids, no raptors getting fried. Except maybe some hummingbirds and some bees that see in infrared.
But hey, TANSTAAFL.
Will this monstrosity ever pay for itself?
Eliminating the pesky bird problem in Southern California to be emulate wherever people are sick of bird droppings on their Priuses.
Not much different than "wind farms". The "law of unintended consequences" can not be avoided.
Regards,
GtG
The economics of “solar power” escapes me. If there has to be stand-by power at all times to make sure there is some degree of reliability to the system, then essentially there have to be TWO parallel generation systems. And if the parallel system has to be built anyway, why bother with the inefficient and unreliable system at all?
Now, it there is a demand for a zero-pollution system for power generation, I submit that widespread development of Thorium fueled Molten-Salt nuclear power plants should be the technology that should be pursued. But so far, there is superstitious dread being stirred up against such a development.
There are a number of advantages to using Thorium-fueled Molten-salt nuclear reactor, in terms of safety, economy and flexibility of application. Every objection raised to the adoption of Thorium-fueled Molten-salt nuclear reactors can be answered,, and the cost-benefit ratio is VASTLY better than any reliance on wind or solar, and is even better than natural gas-fired power generation plants.
I frequently read references to birds burned or incinerated by these solar plants, but I wonder what the distances are where the birds are not burned but are blinded by the light and what becomes of them. It must be something like looking at the sun through a magnifying glass.
You have been pinged because of your interest in environmentalism, alarmist wackos, mainstream media doomsday hype, and other issues pertaining to global warming.
Freep-mail me to get on or off: Add me / Remove me
Please ping me to all note-worthy threads on global warming.
Senate GOP launches attack on EPA climate rules
Global Warming on Free Republic