"Arizona is leading the way in protecting our world for future generations through increasing the amount of renewable energy, combating climate change, fighting for air quality and much more."
If we grow corn for fuel and take up land for solar power; where do we grow our food? We are losing a lot of farm land to housing, and now fuel. We may end up with an abundance of fuel at some point and no food. I’m only wondering about this because there was an article about food shortages a few days ago due to corn being diverted into fuel. I wonder if the land used for this project is being diverted from farm ground or if it was just open land?
This seems like a good thing, I just hope everyone remembers we have to eat.
That’s not a lot of generating capacity. A large coal or nuclear plant is typically about 1,000 megawatts. A large single unit gas fired combustion turbine will produce 200+ megawatts.
How efficient are these panels when they have a foot or 3 of snow on them? What’s the cost savings during the annual 20% of total sunny days from November to February in the Great Lakes region? Will a homeless man on a bicycle with a generator be more cost worthy?
It’s interesting how we have not done any studies of the effect of cutting off that much radiant energy to the earth surface.
These environmental wackos do not understand the symbiosis involved between the earth and the sun.
It has been proven, soil and items living within it die when cut off from the suns raiant energy.
These idiots are slowing dooming this planet just to make hollywood morons feel good.
I'm convinced that the continental USA is simply too far north for solar energy to be practical. Go with coal and nuclear power. We have plenty of resources for both.
70,000 household at a price tag of $1 BILLION. Anyone see the problem here?
"Arizona is leading the way in protecting our world for future generations through increasing the amount of renewable energy, combating climate change, fighting for air quality and much more."
“An investment entity associated with Brandon Wolfswinkel of Tempe, AZ, sold the land for $45.12 million, or about $14,700 per acre.”
$14,700 per acre for desert land not bad. I wonder if Harry Reid had any investment in this land. :)
Not based on solar cells but based on mirrors reflecting sunlight and using the heat to generate power.
A megawatt is one million watts
A kilowatt is one thousand watts, (or a billion watts)
the US Produces 4.062 trillion KWh (2005) which is equal to 1,000,000 x 4.062 trillion (A Frikkin BIG Number)
4,00 Billion = 4 Trillion
40,000 Million = 4 Trillion (4,000,000,000,000)
This solar plant will produce 280 Mw
280 megawatts = .28 Kilowatts
Now, how many 280 megawatt solar plants would it take to replace the 4 trillion kW produced each year?
About 4 for each Kilowatt
Multiplied X 4 trillion (4,000,000,000,000) = 16 trillion plants.
So far so good.
Now if it takes 3,000 sq acres or approx 3 sq. miles for this miracle of miraculous green ingenuity which will produce 280 megawatts, how much land would be needed to produce the 4 trillion annually?
Well, multiply 16 trillion plants 16,000,000,000,000 x 3 and we get 48 trillion sq miles.
Let see, the US has about 8,500,000 Sq. miles so were quite a bit short here.
Well, how about we add South America? Nope, only 6,814,000 Sq. miles.
Throw in Europe? Nada, only 3,872,000 Sq. miles.
Well, Africa is BIG. Sorry, only 11,500,000 Sq. miles.
Give up yet?
The surface area of the ENTIRE WORLD, is only 196,950,000 Sq. miles.
So, what’s the moral here?
Way too much time on my hands this Sunday morning and wayyyyyy too little room on “Mom Earth” much less the good ol U.S. of A., to even begin to think that solar, or wind or anything else (not even all the hot air of OwlGore and his sycophant Green Weenies) will begin to replace our conventional sources of producing electricity.
Have a blessed Sunday all. Me I'm going to Church and pray for GloBull warning--that is if I can get out of my driveway here in Burlington VT, where we just experienced the snowiest Feb on record and is presently snowing again, as well as being VERY cold!
They just keep throwing up houses out there in the desert. How long before the river runs dry before it runs through the canyon?
Using sunlight to boil water? This is definitely cutting-edge.
So will the mirrors on this stoopid project be blinding the eyes of pilots of passing aircraft and knocking them out of the sky??
... The collaborative public-private partnerships established herein will work to reduce the nominal levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of CSP power plants from 13-17 ¢/kWh in 2007 to a target of 7-10¢/kWh by 2015 and 5-7¢/kWh by 2020. DOE estimates that satisfaction of these cost targets could lead to installation of 16,000 to 35,000 MW of new generating capacity by 2030. This would result in a savings of 36-80 million tons of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere each year relative to coal plants of similar capacity.
See: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts/progress_alert.asp?aid=237
This is concentrating solar power. Photovoltaics are more expensive but costs are coming down there as well. Solar is still subsidy dependent; wind is getting close to viability; corn ethanol is over the hump. Things are getting interesting.
That’s more acres than will be impacted by the entirety of drilling for Oil in ANWR.
And ANWR is more barren. Not that this place isn’t barren.
Is an acre of desert really worth $14,700?
At $14,700 per acre perhaps thatt’s a typo and it’s really Brandon Wolfswindel.
I wonder what happens to the power at night.
I am not an expert on land values in Arizona, but $14,700 per acre for empty desert land seems like a lot.
Any AZ FReepers know more about the price of land around Gila Bend?