Tapping The Power Of The Desert Sun
The European Union and the desert countries of Northern Africa may form a collaborative effort to harvest solar energy in the desert areas. The solar power effort could power about one-sixth of Europe if it goes through.
"Europe is considering plans to spend more than £5bn on a string of giant solar power stations along the Mediterranean desert shores of northern Africa and the Middle East."
"More than a hundred of the generators, each fitted with thousands of huge mirrors, would generate electricity to be transmitted by undersea cable to Europe and then distributed across the continent to European Union member nations, including Britain."
"Billions of watts of power could be generated this way, enough to provide Europe with a sixth of its electricity needs and to allow it to make significant cuts in its carbon emissions. At the same time, the stations would be used as desalination plants to provide desert countries with desperately needed supplies of fresh water."
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Good News About Solar Power
This is the most encouraging news I have heard in a long time. I already knew that solar thermal power now costs about twice as much as coal, but I hadn't heard the prediction that, in a decade, the price can come down to enough to be competitive with fossil fuels.
A question: The article says "Only small stations have been tested, but soon plants capable of generating 100 megawatts of power could be built, enough to provide the needs of a town." There are two sets of solar thermal plants already in operation, providing enough power for 100,000 homes in San Diego and LA. Does anyone know if this European technology is significantly different?
An obvious error in the article: there photograph shows photovoltaic cells in Germany, and the caption says that they are similar to the solar power plants proposed in Africa. Actually, solar thermal (concentrated solar power) is a completely different technology from photovoltaic.
Charles Siegel