Posted on 05/02/2007 5:48:56 PM PDT by WesternCulture
Tower of light traps Sun's energy
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Personally, I’m far from convinced man made global warming even exists, but still this technology could be useful, although it probably will take some time before it becomes cost-effective.
The more alternatives there are to Saudi Arabian and Iranian oil the better.
i can’t get the clip to load- is it a solar thermal electric plant like the ones we have out in the Mojave?
Hmm. 11 megawatts. 3 tims as expensive as other elec. sources. Already been done in California 30 years ago. France even built a solar furnace. Nuclear power is much more efficient and secure since power can be generated locally and with a much smaller geographical footprint.
Yawn
“i can’t get the clip to load- is it a solar thermal electric plant like the ones we have out in the Mojave?”
- I don’t know anything about the Mojave plant, but I suspect there are similarities.
Perhaps you’re not using Media Player or need an updated version? If this is not the case, keep trying. It says on the BBC web site the service isn’t always available.
If you don’t want to use Media Player, I remember there was some other option of video player.
Click this link:
Find the title “Tower of light traps Sun’s energy” under the headline “Audio and video news”, click it and you get to choose between Media Player and an alternative video player (don’t remember which one).
“Hmm. 11 megawatts. 3 tims as expensive as other elec. sources. Already been done in California 30 years ago. France even built a solar furnace. Nuclear power is much more efficient and secure since power can be generated locally and with a much smaller geographical footprint.”
- If construction costs comes down it could be an alternative in some contexts.
Furthermore, I guess there must be some advantage of this technology compared to that of the 1970’s.
Generally speaking, nuclear power is the best option for most countries, but exploring alternatives still makes sense IMO.
Well, this is supposed to be the state of the art and it’s still 3 times as expensive. Also, I don’t think you’ve heard from the Greens yet. I can guarantee that the day a full scale power plant using this technology is proposed you will hear protests about the harm it does to the environment because of it’s huge footprint. There is bound to be some threatened desert scarab that will be eliminated because the desert climate will be altered.
It’s old technology, the same as Solar 1 and Solar 2 at Barstow California on the Nevada border. Note, they are proud as punch at putting out only 11 megawatts on an already big footprint. Boondoggle.
Can’t get a picture but this sounds like the trumpet bell concept : 3 km diameter footprint of the bell(rim about 20’ high)and 1 km tall pipe with turbines turned by rising solar heat. Small version already tested in spain if I remember correctly. As with all mechanical solar systems, it’s impractical no matter how much hype-spin is behind it. If you want to harvest solar energy, go buy a chain saw and become a logger.
“If you want to harvest solar energy, go buy a chain saw and become a logger.”
- Well put! I’ll remember this expression.
Yes, if a successful solar FARM ever develops it will be developed as a tree analog : dust-shedder leaves, twigs, branches, cambrian layer, tapered trunk, forest green(for T^4 radiation to a cold, clear night sky)...all the basic elements of trees, a successful solar collector that been around a lot longer than solar engineers. Now, if you could just get these solar collectors to REPRODUCE themselves as with pine cones....
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