Solar towers would solve energy crisis
Mere weeks since disaster struck the Gulf Coast in the form of Hurricane Katrina, local officials are beginning to express worry that the sentiment of helping, the donations to relief have stopped coming. People have moved on to the next crisis, the next cause.
In Utah's case, it could be any one of the coming effects of the population boom we are experiencing. Utah has been among the top five or 10 states in population growth for 20 years now. People are taking notice of the scenic vistas, low cost of living and crime rates, good schools, relatively low tax rates and generally nice weather. The Olympics highlighted the area, and between vacation homes, in-state fertility rates and move-ins Utah has become a common destination for new families looking to settle.
So will our crisis be a failure of school performance? We spend less than any other state per capita on education. Will it be an increased crime rate, or the drug problems commonly associated with more urban areas? Will it be a simple loss of charm as Utah goes from a semi-urban lifestyle, with mountain hikes, waterfalls and bike trails just outside our homes to industry and manufacturing jobs, high-rise living and people packed in on both sides of the lakes? Will it be transportation?
Utah is not a haven for so-called "wind power." Utah does not seem to have a stable enough location to really "farm" the wind. Photo-voltaics (solar) still seem space-aged; wave technologies won't help our desert state, and the bio stuff is still too expensive.
So we struggle to find an identity in the alternative-fuels sector — one that is affordable and will help maintain Utah's low cost of living.
There is a new technology, however, for generating power that makes sense in Utah. It is called the solar tower. And the technology is remarkably straightforward. The same greenhouse effect that we use to raise plants in controlled environments is used to make massive amounts of energy. A large ceiling of clear plastic or glass is built covering as much as 1,000 acres. In the center, a chimney is built, and the greenhouse ceiling slowly slopes upward to the chimney. As the sun's rays heat the air trapped under the ceiling, the air's own energy forces it upward and into the chimney, where turbines are spun and power is generated. The air underneath the ceiling becomes so hot that at night the ground absorbs some of the energy during the day and releases it at night, meaning the plant runs all the time, unlike other renewable technologies. This is stable, consistent and cost-commensurate.
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