This week I was reading about solar farms. I saw that California has announced that, as part of it's intention to produce a third of it power greenly before 2030, it unveiled plans for the largest solar towers in the world.
The US$2.6 billion project is obviously a privet venture. A joint development between Abengoa, a technology solutions provider for sustainable development, and BrightSource Energy, a solar thermal technology company. One building the plant, the other providing the technology.
Together the towers are expected to produce 500 megawatts of solar energy. Enough to power 200,000 households and prevent 17 million tons of carbon emissions over the life of the plant. Over taking the current premier solar farmers Abu Dhabi, who currently have the world's single-largest concentrated solar power plant, The Shams 1 Plant. Weighing in at only 100-megawatts and costing an estimated UD$750 million, it provides electricity to about 20,000 homes, according to the BBC.
It may seem funny that the most oil-rich of the United Arab Emirates, is now home to the world's single-largest concentrated solar power plant, totalling, together with nuclear energy, 7 percent of Abu Dhabi's energy sources from renewable energy sources.
The UAE's neighbour, Saudi Arabia, is on a similar tack with the most extensive renewable-energy program in the Middle East. It seems obvious, the less consumed at home, the more they can sell abroad. Or if you want to be a cynic, it's like selling smack to your neighbours kids so your own kids don't get any.
Together the towers are expected to produce 500 megawatts of solar energy. Enough to power 200,000 households and prevent 17 million tons of carbon emissions over the life of the plant. Over taking the current premier solar farmers Abu Dhabi, who currently have the world's single-largest concentrated solar power plant, The Shams 1 Plant. Weighing in at only 100-megawatts and costing an estimated UD$750 million, it provides electricity to about 20,000 homes, according to the BBC.
It may seem funny that the most oil-rich of the United Arab Emirates, is now home to the world's single-largest concentrated solar power plant, totalling, together with nuclear energy, 7 percent of Abu Dhabi's energy sources from renewable energy sources.
The UAE's neighbour, Saudi Arabia, is on a similar tack with the most extensive renewable-energy program in the Middle East. It seems obvious, the less consumed at home, the more they can sell abroad. Or if you want to be a cynic, it's like selling smack to your neighbours kids so your own kids don't get any.
The way these places work is that the millions of tiny motor driven mirrors move to face the sun. The mirrors capture as much energy as possible reflecting it to the tower. The concentrated sunlight reflected to the top of the tower heats the water in the boiler. The boiler then heats the water to about 550 degrees Celsius and the steam moves from the boiler through a standard turbine to create electricity. An air cooling system then returns the steam back to the boiler to store it, while also producing extra energy thus extending the solar energy to meet electricity demands after the sun sets.
The fun part is that the mirrors can but placed directly into the ground without concrete foundations allowing the solar field to be built around the natural contours of the land, retaining native vegetation. Unlike the wind turbine problems.
These stories make me excited, technology is rad yo! I hope more projects like this are going to be in our future.
These stories make me excited, technology is rad yo! I hope more projects like this are going to be in our future.
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