Greenpeace: Beam me up Sunny!—"The technology to avoid catastrophic climate change already exists."

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/concentrating-solar-power250509

Beam me up Sunny!

25 May 2009

International — Solar power is for wimps. You'd be forgiven if that was the impression you had, given that it's been the (usually) implicit message coming from the oil and coal industries for decades now. Obviously, they don't want you to know about the real potential for solar energy. You can easily melt steel by concentrating the sun's energy, but... not a lot of people know that!

Concentrating Solar Power systems are the next big thing in renewable energy. They produce electricity using hundreds of mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays to a temperature between 400 and 1000 degrees Celsius. Put into context - bacteria die at 50 degrees, water boils at 100 degrees and volcanic lava is 1000 degrees Celsius. CSP uses direct sunlight called "beam radiation" - this is the sunlight that is not deviated by clouds, fumes or dust in the atmosphere.

Suitable sites for CSP are those with large amounts of these beams, ideally located between the equator and 40 degrees latitude north or south. A range of technologies can be used to concentrate and collect sunlight and to turn it into medium to high temperature heat. This heat is then used to create electricity in a conventional way - using a steam or gas turbine or a Stirling engine.

A revolution just waiting to happen

In a very short time, the technology has demonstrated huge technological and economic promise. It has one major advantage - a massive renewable resource, the sun - and very few downsides. For regions as sunny as California, CSP offers the same opportunity as the large offshore wind farms in Europe. Concentrating solar power to generate bulk electricity is one of the technologies best-suited to mitigating climate change in an affordable way, as well as reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.

CSP has actually been around for more than a century. The first systems were installed in 1912 near Cairo in Egypt to generate steam for a pump that delivered water for irrigation. It was competitive with coal-fired installations in regions where coal was expensive. But coal got cheaper - even as the expense to our planet's ecosystem has skyrocketed.

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We've got the power!

Our latest report, http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/concentrating-solar-power-2009">Global Concentrating Solar Power Outlook 2009 (published jointly with the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and the International Energy Agency's SolarPACES) charts a number of scenarios for development of CSP as part of the energy revolution which the world needs if we are to avoid the catastrophic effects of runaway climate change.

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http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/concentrating-solar-power-2009

Global Concentrating Solar Power Outlook 2009

25 May 2009

With advanced industry development and high levels of energy efficiency, concentrated solar power could meet up to 7 percent of the world's power needs by 2030 and fully one quarter by 2050.

This is the 3rd joint report from Greenpeace International, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (ESTELA) and IEA SolarPACES since 2003. With every edition we have increased the projected market volume significantly, and it finally turned over a billion dollars in 2008, this amount could double in 2009. While we highlighted in our first joint report the huge market potential, we were able to move to another message in 2005 when we launched the second report in Egypt: "CSP is ready for take off!".

We now are delighted to say "CSP has taken off", is about to step out of the shadow of other renewable technologies and can establish itself as the third biggest player in the sustainable power generation industry. CSP does not compete against other renewable energies; it is an additional one that is now economically viable.

Fighting climate change is paramount as such it is essential that the power generation sector becomes virtually CO2 free as soon as possible. Greenpeace and the European Renewable Industry Council developed a joint global vision - the Energy (R)evolution scenario - which provides a practical blueprint for rapidly cutting energy-related CO2 emissions in order to help ensure that greenhouse gas emissions peak and then fall by 2015. This can be achieved while ensuring economies in China, India and other developing nations have access to the energy that they need in order to develop. CSP plays an important role in this concept.

The Global CSP Outlook 2009 goes actually one step further. While the moderate CSP market scenario is in line with the Energy (R)evolution scenario, the advanced scenario shows that this technology has even more to offer. Globally, the CSP industry could employ as many as 2 million people by 2050 who will help save the climate and produce up to one quarter of the world’s electricity. This is a truly inspiring vision. Especially as this technology has developed it’s very own striking beauty - the stunning pictures in this report show that saving the climate look spectacular.

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[msongs]

1. our politicians are tied to the past for many reasons - we need a political leader who

will forcefully advocate for future technology and leave PAST technology behind in the dustbin. now is the time for forceful leadership, not tepid plans that accomodate past technologies like coal and oil.

well, since there is no such prominent leader, let's do it ourselves :-)

Msongs