From today's Guardian
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/23/solarpower.windpower), in an
article referred to on the front page. There is a picture with the caption "A
concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Spain that uses panels to reflect light
on to a central tower to produce electricity. Similar plants are proposed for
north Africa." of a new kind of solar power plant that I had not heard of
before, despite reading a serious newspaper nearly every day and having got New
Scientist for the last six months. Perhaps this was due to a conspiracy to keep
knowledge from us of how easily the world's energy problems could be solved,
cheaply and without causing global warming (whether or not such warming has
mainly been caused by humans).
 
Maybe the political will to back such a solution will now be found, rather than
taking up the expensive and dangerous nuclear option. The motives of many of the
powers that be of divide-and-rule (with ordinary working and middle class people
blaming each other for not doing enough to reduce our carbon footprints),
by-products for nuclear weapons and the possible nightmare of allowing a
terrorist attack on a nuclear power station to justify a massive clampdown on
our civil liberties, will hopefully be overcome...
 
 
Solar power from Saharan sun could provide Europe's electricity, says EU
· Huge £35bn supergrid would pool green sources
· Brown and Sarkozy back north African plan
 
Alok Jha, science correspondent
The Guardian, Wednesday July 23, 2008
 
A tiny rectangle superimposed on the vast expanse of the Sahara captures the
seductive appeal of the audacious plan to cut Europe's carbon emissions by
harnessing the fierce power of the desert sun.
 
Dwarfed by any of the north African nations, it represents an area slightly
smaller than Wales but scientists claimed yesterday it could one day generate
enough solar energy to supply all of Europe with clean electricity.
 
Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the
European commission's Institute for Energy, said it would require the capture of
just 0.3% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts to meet all
of Europe's energy needs.
 
The scientists are calling for the creation of a series of huge solar farms -
producing electricity either through photovoltaic cells, or by concentrating the
sun's heat to boil water and drive turbines - as part of a plan to share
Europe's renewable energy resources across the continent.
 
A new supergrid, transmitting electricity along high voltage direct current
cables would allow countries such as the UK and Denmark ultimately to export
wind energy at times of surplus supply, as well as import from other green
sources such as geothermal power in Iceland.
 
Energy losses on DC lines are far lower than on the traditional AC ones, which
make transmission of energy over long distances uneconomic.
 
The grid proposal, which has won political support from both Nicholas Sarkozy
and Gordon Brown, answers the perennial criticism that renewable power will
never be economic because the weather is not sufficiently predictable. Its
supporters argue that even if the wind is not blowing hard enough in the North
Sea, it will be blowing somewhere else in Europe, or the sun will be shining on
a solar farm somewhere.
 
Scientists argue that harnessing the Sahara would be particularly effective
because the sunlight in this area is more intense: solar photovoltaic (PV)
panels in northern Africa could generate up to three times the electricity
compared with similar panels in northern Europe.
 
Much of the cost would come in developing the public grid networks of connecting
countries in the southern Mediterranean, which do not currently have the spare
capacity to carry the electricity that the north African solar farms could
generate. Even if high voltage cables between North Africa and Italy would be
built or the existing cable between Morocco and Spain would be used, the
infrastructure of the transfer countries such as Italy and Spain or Greece or
Turkey also needs a major re-structuring, according to Jaeger-Walden.
 
Southern Mediterranean countries including Portugal and Spain have already
invested heavily in solar energy and Algeria has begun work on a vast combined
solar and natural gas plant which will begin producing energy in 2010. Algeria
aims to export 6,000 megawatts of solar-generated power to Europe by 2020.
 
Scientists working on the project admit that it would take many years and huge
investment to generate enough solar energy from north Africa to power Europe but
envisage that by 2050 it could produce 100 GW, more than the combined
electricity output from all sources in the UK, with an investment of around
€450bn.
 
Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK's chief scientist, welcomed the proposals: "Assuming
it's cost-effective, a largescale renewable energy grid is just the kind of
innovation we need if we're going to beat climate change."
 
Jaeger-Walden also believes that scaling up solar PV by having large solar farms
could help bring its cost down for consumers. "The biggest PV system at the
moment is installed in Leipzig and the price of the installation is €3.25 per
watt," he said. "If we could realise that in the Mediterranean, for example in
southern Italy, this would correspond to electricity prices in the range of 15
cents per kWh, something below what the average consumer is paying."
 
The vision for the renewable energy grid comes as the commission's joint
research centre (JRC) published its strategic energy technology plan,
highlighting solar PV as one of eight technologies that need to be championed
for the short- to medium-term future.
 
"It recognises something extraordinary - if we don't put together resources and
findings across Europe and we let go the several sectors of energy, we will
never reach these targets," said Giovanni de Santi, director of the JRC, also
speaking in Barcelona.
 
The JRC plan includes fuel cells and hydrogen, clean coal, second generation
biofuels, nuclear fusion, wind, nuclear fission and smart grids. De Santi said
it was designed to help Europe to meet its commitments to reduce overall energy
consumption by 20% by 2020, while reducing CO² emissions by 20% in the same
time and increasing to 20% the proportion of energy generated from renewable
sources.
 
 
Backstory
 
High voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines are seen as the most
efficient way to move electricity over long distances without incurring the
losses experienced in alternating current (AC) power lines. HVDC cables can
carry more power for the same thickness of cable compared with AC lines but are
only suited to long distance transmission as they require expensive devices to
convert the electricity, usually generated as AC, into DC. Modern HVDC cables
can keep energy losses down to around 3% per 1,000km. HVDC can also be used to
transfer electricity between different countries that might use AC at differing
frequencies. HVDC cables can also be used to synchronise AC produced by
renewable energy sources.
 
 
For discussion of global warming, including my views and articles from the
media, go to http://www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum/index.php?board=107.
 
--
Steve Wallis (Glasgow, Scotland)
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