****a post I rescued from the great Google cache *****
In Nevada, they are looking at a large scale solar project using molten salt and a lot of real estate:
“It can store heat and it could store it efficiently. And by efficiently I mean the retention of the heat is for a long period of time. So once you heat that salt up, it loses that heat content on a very slow basis. It doesn’t lose it quickly so it allows you time to shift that energy.”
What about if there is a week, say in late December, that the skies are cloudy on short days. Will the plant still run at full efficiency or will some form of back up be required?
There is also a similar power plant planed for construction Southern California, and as I wrote about that power plant:
To generate 1,300 MW of electricity, the solar power plant needs to occupy 10,500 acres, or 16.4 square miles of the Mojave Desert. For a sense of scale, 16.4 square miles is nearly half of Troy Michigan (at 33.6 square miles).
Of course Nevada is a great place for this kind of project. Sunny weather, marginally closer to the equator (more direct sunlight), lots of open spaces. But the biggest reason the project is in Nevada is the political support for an economic loser:
“Nevada is a tremendous solar resource and with the political support from Senator Harry Reid and the rest of the congressional delegation, that made it a good spot to initiate some of our projects,” says Kevin Smith, CEO of SolarReserve.
Although it will take years to meet all of the environmental and financial hurdles, if all goes as planned, this molten salt technology will make Nevada a global leader in green energy. SolarReserve claims that its project will supply power to 75,000 homes. (emphasis added)
The people of Nevada are willing to tie up 16.4 square miles of land to power an estimated 75,000 homes.
While this nonsense is being played out, Russia opened a new section of pipeline to carry more crude oil to China. Via RTT News:
Russia Monday launched its Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline network that will ultimately carry crude to China.During a ceremony held at an oil terminal in the port of Kozmino near the Pacific city of Vladivostok, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin activated the first section of the oil pipeline transportation system, allowing oil pumping to the first tanker.
The story includes this loaded paragraph:
The first phase of the ESPO project costing 360 billion rubles ($12.1 billion) was completed in less than five years. The 4,000 kilometer pipeline that runs from Taishet in eastern Siberia to Nakhodka will enable Moscow to reduce dependency on European customers. (emphasis added)
Two things to take away from this paragraph. First it took the Russians 5 years to build a pipeline from roughly from Fairbanks Alaska to Seattle, Washington. The second, and more important point, from the paragraph is the fact that Moscow is ‘reducing dependency’ on it European customers. Another way to read this is Russia can cut off Europe while still being able to sell their oil.
And the pipeline is going to move a lot of oil China’s way…
The project is designed to pump up to 1.6 million barrels (220,000 tons) of crude per day from Siberia to Russia’s far east and then on to China and the Asia-Pacific region.According to news agency RIA Novosti, the project’s first leg envisages construction of a 2,757-kilometer section with annual capacity of 220.5 million barrels of crude.
If, five years ago, we started a natural gas pipeline and drilling for offshore oil…