Solar Tower in Arizona

JayBee said...

My point is that it is an expensive way of generating electricity. Just because it is "green" doesnt mean it should be funded at any cost.
Right now they are looking at governments to fund it, no corporate will touch it because it is too risky (cost/benefit doesnt add up).

Who will pay the cost to build? With no guarantee of efficiency, structural integrity or performance it is extremely difficult to find a construction financier. This project has been for sale for at least 7 years now and even now Arups are still working on how to actually build the structure (according to Enviromission's Annual report).

There would be plenty of customers for the output, but in this economic climate (pardon the pun) few people willing to fund construction.
Why not build a 50MW prototype to demonstrate the technology and prove construction costs?
Why not prove the technology before taking funding from already proven initiatives?

I have worked in a green industry where funding was withdrawn because of a rival energy source "not telling the whole truth" about costs. They got the funding based on a "miscalculation" of an order of magnitude!!!!!!

Once you have spent $750M and it only produces 100MW what do you do? If it falls down after 7 years (like the prototype did) what do you do? Once the $750M is spent and the project is 50% complete what do you do? Keep pouring money into it?

What I dont like is that it is untried, untested and currently unbuildable. If I were a financier I would want to have a prototype built first - because if it doesnt work there is no inherent value in the asset (if it doesnt perform as expected).

Be under no allusions - EnviroMission have no intention of building this - they want someone else to build it (and wear the risk) and they take the royalties for the IP.

JB

JayBee said...

I agree with Teatrea - remove the requirement to use it in the first place. The only way to really reduce your electricity bill is to reduce your baseload requirement. Google "Passive House" and "Zero Energy Building" for some really good insights on what having a small energy footprint is really about.

Small scale (domestic) generation - Solar in warmer climates, CHP in colder climates. Problem with Solar is the same as buying a computer. In a year there will be a cheaper more efficient option on the market and you will have invested a lot of cash in a (relatively) inefficient solution.
Large scale generation - my cash would be on Geothermal.

JB

laceys lane said...



yep, however as a builder, well not doing much at the moment, i can see home power generation becoming part of the energy efficency requirements for new homes hence the question

this is one i haven't seen before www.freelectricity.com/

is it any good- no idea

cheers

pweedas said...



Sshhhh! Don't tell everyone or no one will cough up the $750 million.

It is a bit puzzling though because they claim it works at night time and I don't see how that can happen just on the basis of the adiabatic lapse rate and that seems to be the whole basis for their claim.

j murray said...


what's wrong with using 12volt electricial goods, they do everything nowdays.

to my mind 240 volt is overkill

felixdcat said...

Nicolas Tesla was researching electricity production in a paralleled stance to the main flow (Thomas Edisson ?), his idea was to produce electricity very cheaply and transmit it without the need of wiring, He was made ridicule by the US coal lobby of the time that wanted coal produced power for a massive profit, who knows what would have happened if it had been left to research and had received some financial back up! I am not sure his ideas were totally crazy, the guy was a genius.

teatrea said...

Vote for Abbott and take a step back , renewables are here and are viable.As much as Labour has stuffed up , at least they are trying.If nothing else at least the carbon tax will drive investment in cleaner energy.And Aus has the chance to be at the cutting edge , i hope we dont blow it.

felixdcat said...


Are you sure of it
In Colorado Springs, where he stayed from May 1899 until 1900, Tesla made what he regarded as his most important discovery-- terrestrial stationary waves. By this discovery he proved that the Earth could be used as a conductor and would be as responsive as a tuning fork to electrical vibrations of a certain frequency. He also lighted 200 lamps without wires from a distance of 25 miles( 40 kilometers) and created man-made lightning. At one time he was certain he had received signals from another planet in his Colorado laboratory, a claim that was met with disbelief in some scientific journals.
Read more there!

www.teslasociety.com/biography.htm

JayBee said...



You are joking right? This would be in direct contravention of the current beliefs held by some of the most influential people still living... www.theflatearthsociety.org/home/

JB

teatrea said...



Wont even look mate , their is no such thing as free electricity.Never will be