Storing the Sun
Last week, the Washington Post published an op-ed repeating an old mantra for those who try to dampen enthusiasm for renewable energy. The authors complain solar and wind energy are intermittent and that they are of limited use without the technology to store energy.
The search is on for breakthroughs on storage technology -- indeed the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) has money to support this work.
I expect to see more and more evidence to overcome these objections in the months and years ahead, but here's a start reported today in the Guardian: The Andasol 1 solar thermal plant near Granada, Spain, has the ability to provide nearly round-the-clock power using energy from the sun.
Andasol 1 features vats of lava-like salt that collect the suns rays during the day. It releases the energy by heating water and generating steam which drives turbines. The completed Andasol project is expected to provide power to 150,000 households, or 600,000 people, when it is complete in 2011. Even more important, it will help prove that the old arguments against renewables won't necessarily stand up over time.
http://www.climatechangeinsights.com/admin/trackback/128577
