Date published: 5/5/2007

Forget nuclear, try 'concentrating solar power'

This is regarding the article titled "Dominion Power's North Anna plant reviewed by NRC" [April 17].

There is no need for nuclear power in the U.S. because there is a simple mature technology that can deliver huge amounts of clean energy without any of the headaches of nuclear power.

I refer to "concentrating solar power," or CSP, the simple but effective technique of concentrating sunlight using mirrors to create heat, and then using the heat to raise steam and drive turbines and generators, just like a conventional power station.

It is possible to store solar heat in melted salts so that electricity generation may continue at night or on cloudy days. This technology has been generating electricity successfully in California since 1985. CSP plants are now being planned or built in many parts of the world.

CSP works best in hot deserts and, of course, these are not nearby. But it is feasible and economical to transmit solar electricity over very long distances using highly efficient, high-voltage, direct-current transmission lines.

With transmission losses at about 3 percent per 1,000 km, solar electricity may be transmitted to most of the U.S. and much of Canada.

In a report commissioned by the German government, it is estimated that CSP electricity, imported from North Africa and the Middle East, could become one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, including the cost of transmission.

Date published: 5/5/2007

Most recent reader comments: