Forget the wind, lets talk Solar Thermal

I talked about Solar Thermal sometime ago, in my opinion, from what I have read Solar Thermal is the wave of the future, California will be going this route,the reason, rumour has it "It never rains in southern California"


(Esolar,A California company) Has inked a deal with China to build Solar Thermal plants, a 5 $billion dollar deal .....2000 megawatts, that`s right, 2000 megawatts for 5 $billion dollars, if you compare that with the proposed Naikun wind farm, Naikun is a 2 $billion dollar capital intensive project that will produce 496 megawatts of power if, if the wind blows at the perfect speed 24 hours a day 365 days a year, well friends it won`t, the wind farm will produce around 100 megawatts of "soft Power" ....Of course Haida Gwaii wouldn`t be an ideal place for solar thermal power but the interior, the Okanagan, Osoyoos would be perfect.





Now for those of you who aren`t familiar with Solar Thermal (I`m still learning myself) The advantage of Solar Thermal is that as long as the sun is shining it will produce power and.....The difference between straight solar power and Solar Thermal is Solar thermal can be stored, Solar thermal uses mirrors and solar energy to heat water and turn it into steam, the steam turns turbines and produces lots of energy, little to none maintainance,easy installation and, here is the biggy, the energy can be stored, steam can be stored so even when the sun isn`t shining at night it can still produce energy, no batteries, no exploding windmills, no massive vats of oil for cooling like there is in offshore windmills, and the company claims it`s power can compete with conventional fossil fuel generated in power.

ESolar had gained instant fame with this 5 $billion dollar contract with China, California is going to go this route. (read about the deal here) http://www.cnbc.com/id/34778668



Solar Thermal isn`t miles and miles of solar panels, the area required is quite small, the steam get used and when it`s cooled the water gets used over and over again, so no need for a big water supply, again it`s perfect for the interior of BC and ideal for California, and here is a real important point, Gordon Campbell`s rape of rivers, his mis-guided(criminal) energy plan buggers up rivers,messes with natural hydrology and is fatal to fish, and, and once you kill off the fish the bears,eagles and whole eco-system isn`t that far behind! Unlike the spring freshet(spring run-off) and winter storms for wind power, California doesn`t need power that time of year, it doesn`t get that cold in Cali in winter time, the big need for California comes in the summer(air conditioning) .....So with Solar Thermal in California or in the interior of BC the big power would be available in the summer, that`s right folks, the power would be available when they need it, 24/7.....The power would be available at night, unlike wind power,unlike run of river power, Solar thermal power can be stored.....Have a glance at this link,I believe you will find it very informative. http://www.esolar.com/our_solution/ Let me know what you think. And this company has 46 megawatt packages available, that amount of power would be perfect for little towns up and down the west coast,and there would be no need for massive expensive transmission lines,that my friends is green power.

I was watching :Meet the press: on NBC yesterday and there was an interesting interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, what I picked up from the lengthy interview is this, California is broke, Arnie wants billions from the feds, Arnie doesn`t want to raise taxes, he won`t get the billions and he will HAVE to raise taxes, but the most important part of the interview was....Arnie was asked if he will be running for Governor next year, his answer spoke volumes, he won`t be running, California is a mess and he is tired of the headache, and, he never mentioned green energy once, it appears Arnie has grown tired of terrorizing Californians over power use.....And, Gordon Campbell`s buddy Arnie won`t be around to help out Gordon Campbell.

Again, Gordon Campbell couldn`t run a lemonade stand and all he has managed to do is bugger up our rivers,kill fish and cost BC a whole lot of money, his IPP power is going nowhere, Naikun is going nowhere, hydro rates are trending downward, I sure hope the BCUC can see the big picture, "Run of river power in BC is all but dead"

The Straight Goods
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open