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Adios

http://www.eredux.com/states/

We just watched a PBS “Nova” program about solar energy last night that mentioned this technology of CSP, and showed very impressive pictures of it in operation in California. Apparently a new CSP plant is being built outside Las Vegas now too.

One note is that according to the web sites you cited, the 3% per 1000 km transmission is only possible if you build a new electric transmission grid.

Another note: Currently in California, there are 9 CSP plants producing a total of 350 MW (see http://www.energylan.sandia.gov/sunlab/PDFs/solar_trough.pdf). A typical plant is 0.5 square km, and produces 80 MW of power. So, to get up to my 1 TW benchmark, it would take something like 12,500 similar solar plants, which would cover over 6000 square km. That’s almost twice the area that would be needed for photovoltaics to generate the same power, at least according to the rough calculations I did in the article.

And by the way, I agree that there are a lot of problems with nuclear power, which is why (even though it can provide significant energy) I didn’t include it in my conclusions section as a technology to concentrate on. I really think we need to shift to solar and wind.

–Jennifer

CSP employs the technique of concentrating sunlight using mirrors to create heat, and then using the heat to raise steam and drive turbines and generators, just like a conventional power station. It is possible to store solar heat in melted salts so that electricity generation may continue through the night or on cloudy days. This technology has been generating electricity successfully in California since 1985 and currently provides power for about 100,000 Californian homes. CSP plants are now being planned or built in many parts of the world.

CSP works best in hot deserts and it is feasible and economic to transmit solar electricity over very long distances using highly-efficient ‘HVDC’ transmission lines. With transmission losses at about 3% per 1000 km, solar electricity may be transmitted to anywhere in the US. A recent report from the American Solar Energy Society says that CSP plants in the south western states of the US “could provide nearly 7,000 GW of capacity, or about seven times the current total US electric capacity”.

In the ‘TRANS-CSP’ report commissioned by the German government, it is estimated that CSP electricity, imported from North Africa and the Middle East, could become one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, including the cost of transmission. A large-scale HVDC transmission grid has also been proposed by Airtricity as a means of optimising the use of wind power throughout Europe.

Further information about CSP may be found at http://www.trec-uk.org.uk and http://www.trecers.net . Copies of the TRANS-CSP report may be downloaded from http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/reports.htm . The many problems associated with nuclear power are summarised at http://www.mng.org.uk/green_house/no_nukes.htm .