Monday, June 11, 2007

Deploy, Develop, Evolve



As we begin to implement the great change that must come, we must begin to deploy the best technology we have now, but at the same time, we must research and develop the most advanced new technologies we can imagine.

Here is an example of a new deployment from Solar Buzz.

World’s Largest Solar Thermal Plant (in 16 Years )

Acciona Solar Power has announced that its Nevada Solar One project, the largest-capacity solar power plant built in the world in 16 years and the third-largest of its kind, has begun supplying power to the Nevada Power grid. The plant represents an investment of more than $250 million.
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Acciona Solar Power, a majority-owned subsidiary of Acciona Energy, a world leader in renewable energies, built Nevada Solar One over the course of 16 months. The 64-MW solar thermal power plant covers 400 acres in the Eldorado Valley and utilizes large-scale, parabolic trough technology to enable heat transfer from the sun’s rays to ultimately generate up to 134 million kW hours of electricity per year, enough to power 15,000 households annually.

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"We are extremely pleased to be a part of this breakthrough project with Acciona," said Roberto Denis, senior vice president of energy supply for Sierra Pacific Resources , parent company of Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power. "Not only is solar energy a perfect fit in a state with such an abundant amount of this natural resource, it helps us to diversify our energy mix which ultimately benefits our customers."

Utilizing Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology to concentrate the sun’s rays and proprietary tracking technology to track the sun’s location during peak demand hours, Nevada Solar One’s parabolic troughs collect heat from the sun and transfer renewable power during times of greatest need.

Solar thermal technology ultimately provides clean and reliable energy when and where it is needed most. Planned testing and additional ramp-up procedures are currently in process, with commercial operation expected to commence within approximately a week’s time. more

And here is a good example of how we can set our imaginations free.

Mini heat harvesters could be new energy source
June 2007
NewScientist.com
Michael Reilly

New ways of turning heat into sound waves - and then into electricity - may be the next step toward a practical new source of alternative energy.

Scientists have known for decades that they can turn heat into sound using simple devices called acoustic heat engines. But this week a team of University of Utah researchers plan to show they’ve succeeded in miniaturising and optimising the devices, which then turn the sound into usable electricity.

If true, the advance could open the door to super-efficient power plants, cars, and computers, as well as a new generation of solar cells.

Acoustic heat engines usually use a copper plate to conduct heat to a high-surface-area material like glass wool, which then heats the surrounding air. The movement of the hot air generates a single frequency sound wave, rather like a flute. And this in turns vibrates a piezoelectric electrode, producing voltage." more

As we move away from the crude age of fire that permeates our civilization, we will begin to create new tools and mechanisms that will make for a new advanced state of human development. We will understand that all energy is interchangable, that sound and light and heat are simply different manifestations of the abundant energy that is around us.

We will be able to convert the noise of a freeway or a train into useable electrical power. When we take the heat out of a building, that heat will be converted to electronic energy. We may even be able to convert the force of the wind on our buildings into usable energy as we learn to build with a new generation of Piezoelectric materials.

We will rediscover the science and art of harmonics.

Even our present PV systems may be tuned to perform at heretofore unheard of efficiencies.

The light based energy world of our near future will be as different from our present world of fossil fuels, cars, and coal plants as our present world differs from the pastoral agrarian world of horses, wagons, and water wheels.

As our technology evolves,

so will humankind.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, Oz, as always, you are miles ahead of the cutting edge. Facinating technologies, the harmonics and heat/sound conversion. Applications would seem to be readily developed.
TKR

8:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Algae... History channel tonight (6/20) features an Arizona AES project with GreenFuels. Carbon from a gas power plant is fed into huge testube-like containers full of water and algae. The algae, exposed to sunlight, eats all the carbon, producing oxygen. As the alge grows, it is harvested for biodiesel and its carbohydrate is made into ethanol. It's residual byproduct can also be used to make paper and other products.

Solar is awesome, but for liquid fuels, algae is the only source that makes sense for biodiesel. It uses small land resources, needs no emmission producing dangerous fertilizers like nitrogen and has an enormously short reproductive cycle.

Certainly corn makes NO sense for ethanol! Use of food stocks for energy is playing russian roulette with our food supplies. Once cellulosic technologies advance (who knows how long,) switchgrass (yes, George,) is a good feedstock, as are other non-food stocks.]
TKR

8:47 PM  

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