Temple to the sun in Seville, Spain. Could we be doing this

[Cleita]

in the southwest and west coast of America where we get a lot of sun?

Power station harnesses Sun's rays
By David Shukman
Science correspondent, BBC News, Seville

There is a scene in one of the Austin Powers films where Dr Evil unleashes a giant "tractor beam" of energy at Earth in order to extract a massive payment.
Well, the memory of it kept me chuckling as I toured the extraordinary scene of the new solar thermal power plant outside Seville in southern Spain.

From a distance, as we rounded a bend and first caught sight of it, I couldn't believe the strange structure ahead of me was actually real.

A concrete tower - 40 storeys high - stood bathed in intense white light, a totally bizarre image in the depths of the Andalusian countryside.

The tower looked like it was being hosed with giant sprays of water or was somehow being squirted with jets of pale gas. I had trouble working it out.

more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6616651.stm

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Check out Stirling Energy -- using solar thermal power to drive Stirling engines.

http://www.stirlingenergy.com/

WARNING: My browser flaked out when I tried to navigate their site.

I believe the technology that SES uses was originally licensed from Los Alamos Nat'l Labs, IIRC (it was definitely one of the Nat'l Labs in the Southwest).

[AnnieBW]

2. All Hail the Sun God!

He is the Fun God!
Ra! Ra! Ra! :evilgrin:

[phantom power]

3. The single-axis collectors seem like much better engineering to me.

[modrepub]

4. Not if Big Oil has their way

Renewables seen powering half the nation
Wednesday May 2, 4:05 pm ET

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer



Renewable energy could have the capacity to supply up to half the nation's current electricity demand and 40 percent of its transportation fuel demand by 2025, proponents said Tuesday.

<snip>

ACORE's projections differ sharply with those of the U.S. government and most major oil companies, who say renewables will continue to account for between 5 to 10 percent of the country's energy use by 2030.

link: http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/070502/050107_renewables.html?.v=1&.pf=personal-finance