js.b1 wrote:
On Feb 9, 2:51 pm, Tim Streater wrote:
Supposedly in Oz they're planning these giant solar jobs (290MW each)
that use the heat to not only drive gennies but melt salt too. The salt
gets up to about 700C and during the night energy from it (down to 300C
or so) drives the gennies.

First generation salt, second generation sodium.
It would work well for Spain & Africa, toss a cable over to Libya for
example.

why not toss it to - say mercury.

Its no less stupid an idea, in fact it would be better, No fecking
ayrabs on Mercury, and its hotter.


Cost wise it could be very cheap

impossibly expensive.

and provides 24/7 power in southern
climates.

Wgere there is no water at all to provide the sink end of the
theormodynamic circuit..


However the initial solutions are relatively expensive, it
needs an order of magnitude reduction in the cost of reflectors and so
on. Space wise it is a carbuncle, but on a vast "mass production
scale" it is no different to the Hoover Dam. The only renewable I
agree with (although realise a good sandstorm could interrupt things
and make a bit of a mess), tidal is "the daft one before the even
dafter wind one".

Then again, if there are 8.3 billion barrels of oil off the Falklands,
we just got 830 billion at 100$ per barrel. Wouldn't it be nice if the
money were actually used to create a real low cost rail network +
nuclear infrastructure + true wireless library network? ... Sadly no,
it goes to fund the vast squandered socialist centrally planned
spending of decades past.

Well yes, that sounds more likely to happen than a secure low cost 50GW
cable to Libya...