Looks like the high-efficiency solar cells which forecasters have planned on require rare metals
we'll run out of in about ten years. And, the best substitute expected, carbon nanofiber, is shown by two independent studies to pose a health risk
similar to asbestos, as per a linked Seattle P-I story. Eek.
This only emphasizes the need for more basic research, not less, in energy generation of all kinds, such as these nuke-sized solar power fields (
Link 1,
Link2) which California's PG&E is studying. These sunpower fields use an array of tracking solar dishes powering
Stirling engines which work with
any concentrated heat source.

Gee, doesn't Oregon get a lot of constant sunshine east of the Cascades? Hmm... the 'golden triangle' of lower Malheur and Harney counties (see map, above, with marker at Baker City), including the hamlet of
Fields, with its apex near
Alvold Lake, gets
at least 4.5 kilowatt-hours per square meter per hour, even in January, which is the 'worst-case month. Other months of the year, it gets more... and that's pretty darned close to the Big Island of Hawaii according to
this DOE Map. When it's sunny, the wind blows less, so Stirling-engine-solar there these would be a good partner to Oregon's windmills, because when there's no wind and windmills don't turn, we now use
carbon-emitting inefficient gas turbines to substitute for the wind turbines, because you can't quickly fire up a coal plant like
Boardman or a nuke like Hanford's
WPPSS #2.
Clean energy jobs for Oregon. Anyone interested?
Labels: Oregon, solar power, Stirling engine, wind turbines, windmills