Solucar energy puts forth innovative power-plant
NPR did a story on Europe’s first solar thermal power plant, the PS-10, outside Seville, Spain. Over 600 mirrors concentrate sunlight onto a tower in the center of the plant. Heat from the sunlight turns water into steam that turns a turbine, creating enough power for roughly 6,000 houses. The project is expanding, and by 2013 is expected to power up to 180,000 households
The company is already setting up new plants in Morocco and Algeria, with plans to expand its operations across North Africa and the American West.
Imagine the benefits to Europe and the Mediterranean rim if more such power facilities were to be constructed, funded as part of both the European Union’s energy framework and in accordance with it’s environmental policy. As the facilities proliferate in sunny regions, the 1.5 billion price tag would steadily decrease while the energy generation would increase, all with no greenhouse gases. Regional conflicts that may have arisen over dwindling energy resources could be prevented and Europe’s neighbors made more stable, all the while generating power for rainy, gray northern Europe.
