Sometimes, when a country attempts to do the right thing, Murphy (ie, “Murphy’s law” Murphy) decides to present them with a hundred and one challenges to overcome. Murphy has recently set his sights on Norway, and is giving them a good tug.

Bordered by Sweden, Finland and Russia, the Kingdom of Norway is apparently one of the most peaceful countries in the world (though, by which measuring scale that was taken I’m not sure). Amongst the wealthiest countries of the world, Norway can thank the natural reserves of oil and gas reserves off their coast for their economic boom.

And though Norway apparently holds some of the strictest emission rules in the world, they want to do more.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s true. I’m in love with Google, and everything they do! From the rumored GPhone, which is apparently to be announced soon, to the simplicity and reliability of their search engine. But, most importantly, and relevant to my role here at Green Options, is their role in leading businesses towards a greener tomorrow.

Boston, Massachusetts, hosted the 3rd annual Conference on Clean Energy this past Monday and Tuesday. Panel discussions by clean energy investors, entrepreneurs developing emerging clean energy technologies for startups and more were on the agenda, along with Robyn Beavers, Director of Environmental Programs at Google.

Google, who already has the largest corporate installation of solar-powered electricity, is apparently not satisfied… and well it shouldn’t be. According to Beavers, Google intends to generate a total of 50 megawatts of electricity from renewable sources, for all its operations, by the year 2012.

Beavers outlined a number of steps that Google is taking towards those goals. A 1.6 megawatt solar installation at its corporate headquarters in Mountain View, Calif, and solar panels on building roofs are just the beginning. Not to mention the solar-panel-roofed carports, under which their plug-in hybrids are charged.

"Wind, solar, geothermal, fuel cells — you name it, we’re looking into it," Beavers said.

You may wonder though, why it is that Google are so invested in going green. Well, run by youngin’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company consumes a massive amount of power. Consider just how much you see Google online, and then trace that back to what is powering all that online presence. The power requirements for their operations and data centers are not small.

But the investments that Google has put in to these green initiatives will pay themselves off in 7 years — not that they need too, with shares selling for just under $700, and stockpiles of cash in back rooms. They have already managed to reduce their consumption from the power grid by 30%, and a subsequent reduction of 30% on their bills.

Why go green? Because it’s cheaper! Why else? Because someone has to lead the charge, and I’ve said all along it has to be big business. We know it won’t be governments! We’ve seen that time and time again. The big moves will only come when the big businesses make the move, and with Google and, more recently retailing giant Wal-Mart, investing in green and renewable initiatives, that leap forward is coming soon.

News.com — Google’s love for solar may extend to other renewables

Conference on Clean Energy

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Google Flips The Switch On Largest Corporate Solar Installation In U.S.

Tech Industry Goes Greener and Greener

After my less than subtle attack on those standing in the way of actual change, it comes as a nice surprise and relief to write on something else. In particular, it brings great joy for me to be able to bring you news of what could be the world’s largest wind farm.

Back in 2004, James Dehlsen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, Calif., told The Associated Press that the company intended to build a $3 billion wind complex with 1,000 turbines that could produce 3,000 megawatts of power, based in South Dakota.

Well, according to the senior vice president, Bob Gates, Clipper hope to double that output to 6,000 megawatts.

Currently, FPL Energy holds the number one spot for largest wind farm. The Horse Hollow 1, 2 and 3 projects add up to a sizeable 735 megawatts produced. Running 421 turbines and stretched across three counties of Texas, it will be dwarfed by the Clipper project.

In fact, according to Gates, each preliminary stage that is built — the plan will be to build the entire complex in stages — will be larger than the Texas plant.

There seems to be a bit of a barney going on as to who takes the cake for America’s windiest state. A study more than a decade ago placed South Dakota at number 4 in such a list. However, many critics and industry officials believe that South Dakota is the windiest of them all. (It also proves that you can find a critic for just about anything!)

The re-envisioned wind farm will cost $6 billion. But even at such a large cost, another question arises: what cost do you put on your future?

A 6,000 megawatt wind farm could, on average, provide enough power for about 1.6 million homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The current model of turbine being produced by Clipper are 2.5 megawatt turbines. However, the firm is also involved in a project to develop 7.5 megawatt turbines.

With the 2.5 megawatt turbines, it would take 2,400 to create the 6,000 megawatts of electricity. However, with 7.5 megawatt turbines, the need for as many would be lessened. The question is would Clipper be willing to produce the same amount of turbines, and thus produce more power?

This also suggests to us that the world of renewable energy sources, in specifics, wind, is a field that is not as far away from reality as we once feared. No longer are the scare tactics working, claiming that one would need cover entire states to provide enough power.

Now if only my people would stop complaining about them being a giant eyesore. I’m sorry, but in all the photos I see, they look kinda pretty!

Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Mammoth wind farm slated for South Dakota

Clipper Windpower

American Wind Energy Association

Photo Credit - Clipper Windpower

In a country that is all but the American whipping boy, it is no surprise that we find ourselves lagging behind. Alternate energy sources and use of water are all but non-existent except in a niche market. Australian’s seem to be impassive when it comes to global warming; sure, it’s bad and all, but don’t make me change my life to fix it.

It doesn’t help when the government is described as a “follower”, as Richard Potter from Solar Charge suggests in a seminar at the Save Water Save Energy expo.

This year is also an election year, with the Prime Minister John Howard only recently announcing the election for mid November. For much of the year there has already been a lot of noise concerning global warming and climate change, but not much action. It was the issue that everyone had to have a view on.

The Green Party has managed to build up a larger profile this year as a result of these issues. The two major parties, Liberal and Labor, are lucky to receive a 10% rating from the Big Switch; an initiative to alert the layman voter to what the parties are doing for the environment.

But the turn out at the expo is at least something to ease the mind. It’s a Friday, before the CBD goes on its lunch break, and it’s hard to not bump in to someone. People seem to want to make a change, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that many are over the age of 50. You could imagine many of them being grandparents wanting to make a change for their children and grandchildren, or simply wanting to make a difference.

I spoke to a representative from the Wilderness Society who was here to represent the move towards recycled paper. Though not sure about where we are in a global ranking in terms of deforestation, he did have figures for me for my home state of Victoria and my brothers state of Tasmania.

“I don’t know what the percentage is, but I do know what figures are. In Victoria I think we log something like over 15,000 hectares of native forest every year. And in Tasmania, I think it is something 3 times that. So you’re looking at around about 45,000 hectares of native forest being logged every year in Tasmania.”

If you’ve read my stuff here at GO, then you’ll be well aware of the fact that I’m not necessarily the sunniest person when it comes to our environmental future. I live in a country that is in so many ways like the US in terms of political lackluster. We live and die off the political movement of a government that seems not to care about our environment. So much so that the living aspect of that is looking more and more unlikely every year that goes by.

Those who have turned up today, and will continue to arrive over the weekend, are definitely looking for something to do to make their lives a little greener. They want to find alternatives for their hot water, electricity usage and their use of water.

Do I think that anyone here is going to be able to make the big change that we need? No. My pessimism simply doesn’t allow for it. And while I’m well aware of the joy that we find in being able to do “our small part”, I think big, and I want to make big change. So I’m hard to please. Let me make one thing clear though. I see myself making change across the world through science, advocacy and being a loudspeaker for the race against global warming. I want to see people making these movements at home.

Save Water Save Energy Expo

As the only Australian member of the GO writing team, it came as a surprise to find my hometown of Melbourne was hosting a green expo. Situated at the Melbourne Exhibition Center, the Save Water Save Energy Expo gave me my first chance to get out of the house for GO.

This article will from hereon out be a journal entry, letting you walk around the exhibition floor.

I’ve just arrived, and made my way to the end of the floor where Mick Harris of The Light takes the 11:30 spot. The array of lightware on the table in front of me suggests that he just might have something to do with lighting.

The Australian Government recently announced that incandescent lights will be banned in Australia. Now despite the frustration I feel that the government felt the need to regulate such a thing, there will obviously be a need to swap to something else.

Mick begins his talk discussing the differences between compact fluro’s and your standard lightbulb. One of the obstacle’s between a mass move toward more energy efficient lightbulbs are the small things, like color and brightness. Mick seems to know everything there is to know about lighting, something that Australian’s are going to need as time passes by and the ban towards normal light bulbs is emplaced.

Pulling a volunteer out of the 70 or so audience, Mick addresses one of the issues that people are definitely going to encounter; dimmable compact fluro’s. However, as much as they might be the better option, where to find them is a mystery to all and sundry. After 15 minutes, I feel like I’ve taken just about as much lighting as I can for one moment. I’m heading off to trundle the room.

I spent the next half an hour trundling around the exhibition floor, visiting numerous booths. It is very hard to turn your head without looking at another way to save water, energy, carbon emissions. Even the seemingly personal experience of the toilet was invaded by a notice about urinal blocks helping save us water.

Possibly the greatest booth that I’ve seen so far, and am likely to see, was the booth for Quench Solutions. Their slogan, “Guilt Free Showers in a Drought”. For a country like Australia, in the midst of one of its worst droughts in recent recorded history, showers are one of those luxuries that people are very unwilling to give up. Brian Gaye spoke to me quickly, and explained the system to me. Click here to hear him sell a good long shower…

12:30 roles around back at the seminar stage and I find myself waiting for Stephen Pepper and Richard Potter speaking on Hot Water & Power from the sun.

Richard Potter speaks first from Solar Charge who has been doing business here in Victoria for 35 years. Back in 1998 it had taken them 18 months to convince an energy supplier to allow for solar power to be used in the grid. A North facing, unshaded roof though seems to be a requirement, which doesn’t bode well for any houses without, as Potter suggests that there is really very little one can do to usurp that problem.

Any house that does manage to get a solar system set up on their roof will get first access to the energy generated through the solar. After your usage, the excess will run off in to the energy grid, and “literally” reverse your meter usage. “During the day your exporting power, at night your using power. It’s an in/out system.”

Most people still end up being a net consumer to the power company, but some manage to get to 100% self reliant over the period of a year. Potter’s main call is that everyone who goes to the expo should go home and swap their lights over to compact fluorescent. With a 25 year warranty, and a 40 or 50 year lifespan, a member of the audience was surprised that this isn’t a loss-loss initiative. Though, Potter does note that “you need an environmental bent” if you want to be really behind this.

Steven Pepper, from InSolar steps up next, to discuss solar hot water. The sun will provide 75% of your hot water in Melbourne each year. But in the winter, there is obviously not going to be a rush for luke-warm showers. In winter, InSolar have three options to boost up the heat; wood-fire, electric and natural gas.

There is a veritable multitude of solar water systems that can be installed, from rooftop systems through to a heat pump. Stephen is reaching the end of his half hour, and speaking faster and faster, forcing my fingers to catch up (if only he had a pause button).

One of the devices that caught my eye are gravity fed systems that allow your wood or gas fire – both very energy efficient for keeping the house warm during winter – can also boost the heat levels in your water system during the colder months where the sun is bored with its life.

I departed at this stage, as everything else was just a repeat of what we had already heard. It was a good morning out, and somewhat gratifying to see others in my country showing this interest. However, in my other article, you’ll see what I really think.

Save Water Save Energy Expo

On the top of the rollercoaster that is environmentalism once again, we find that Richard Branson, everyone’s favorite billionaire, is greening up the Virgin Atlantic skies. His Virgin Group is hoping to start producing clean biofuels hopefully by the beginning of the next decade.

Speaking at a Mortgage Bankers Association meeting in Boston, Branson said that Virgin hopes to provide clean biofuels to buses, trains and cars within the next three to four years.

However, of more immediate importance is the decision to test a Virgin Atlantic 747 on renewable fuel next year. "Early next year we will fly one of our 747s without passengers with one of the fuels that we have developed," Branson told the annual conference. The company is developing fuels in conjunction with Boeing Co and engine-maker GE Aviation, a unit of General Electric Co.

Virgin is in a race against Air New Zealand to be the first to test such a flight. Air New Zealand said that it hoped to run a test flight on a combination of biofuel and kerosene in late 2008, so Virgin at least has a deadline to try and beat.

Branson suggested that the more popular and well known biofuel – ethanol – would be unsuitable for aircraft. Ethanol freezes at 15,000 feet, making it extremely risky, despite measures that would be put in place. Butanol is a gas similar to gasoline, and is one of the options that Branson believes will work.

Branson is one of those billionaires that can see through the mess of politicism and criticism when it comes to global warming. He has pledged to spend all of the profit he makes off his 51% stake in Virgin’s airlines and rail businesses to fight global warming.

As part of that pledge, he has created Virgin Fuels, an initiative that has already invested $400 million over three years in renewable energy initiatives. Virgin Fuels hopes to have a branded biofuel product in the near future.

ENN - Virgin Atlantic 747 to test biofuel in early 2008

Also on GO:

Branson Raises Stakes for CO2 Removal

Fair Trade Takes to the Skies

MSNBC put it best when they lead off an article by noting "When it comes to solving the fossil fuel crisis, it seems like every silver lining comes accompanied by a dark cloud."

This merry-go-round that is the environmental life is a bit like being on anti-depressants: one minute you’re flying high like a kite (without any pharmacological help) rejoicing for Panasonic’s green business initiatives; the next minute, a story like this comes along.

The rush to change over to a more ecologically friendly fuel source — ie, the rush to ethanol — is systematically causing damage to the Earth’s greatest natural resource. No, it’s not the kids of the future; it’s our water!

The US National Research Council reported Wednesday that the US’ ethanol kick is going to cause damage to the water systems nearby.

"How can this be?" I hear you ask.

Ethanol 101: How to make ethanol

Returning to my old friend Wikipedia, corn ethanol is produced from corn as a biomass through industrial fermentation, chemical processing and distillation. Wikipedia goes on to list corn-based ethanol as an alternative in the United States to normal fuels like gasoline and petroleum.

The increased demand then for corn obviously means more corn needs to be grown. The problem arises here, because the corn industry relies upon fertilizers and pesticides to keep their crops healthy. In fact, experts note that these two ingredients are used for corn crops far more than for any other crop.

The natural extension of this is the run-off of these pesticides — both with high levels of nitrate and nitrite — into waterways, and then into the oceans. From this, not only are our waterways polluted, but the risk to humans increases if mixed with water sources used to quench our thirst.

To be fair, the report by the National Research Council failed to showcase the existing ways to minimize this damage. Fertilizer can be injected below the surface of the soil, and special controlled-release fertilizers are just two ways that run off can be avoided. But then we step away from a water problem to an economic one.

Water, water everywhere!

Stepping away from the polluted water, we find that there is still another water problem awaiting us. The report points to the amount of water used in irrigation of crops. The experts (who wrote the report) wrote that "there are likely to be significant regional and local impacts where water resources are already stressed."

The location of crop cultivation now becomes an issue. If the location needs irrigation, 2,000 gallons of water for every bushel of corn is the ratio required. No matter where you are, that’s a lot of water.

This water problem continues when you realize that biorefineries rely on copious amounts of water to produce the ethanol.

"A biorefinery that produces 100 million gallons of ethanol a year would use the equivalent of the water supply for a town of about 5,000 people," the National Research Council said. "Biorefineries could generate intense challenges for local water supplies, depending on where the facilities are located."

Alternative Alternatives

The answer to these issues is simple: find another source of ethanol. OK, maybe not so simple, but necessary nevertheless. One cannot simply attempt to right a wrong by choosing another wrong that will subsequently need to be righted. It doesn’t work like that, and we’ve been doing it for far too long anyway: nature is coming back to claim what’s rightfully hers.

Brazil is managing to find a solution through extracting ethanol from sugarcane, but that is a crop that is dependent on the conditions found in Brazil: a tropical climate. Experts suggest that ethanol needs to be extracted from other materials: grass, wood and sawdust, for example.

Already sources of water are being depleted across the country. The Ogallala or High Plains aquifer located underneath the eight states of South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas is already being overdrawn. Its ability to refill its reserves is less than what is being withdrawn, and this is another problem that will only continue to grow.

So while we occasionally manage to boost ourselves up out of our ecological depression occasionally, Mother Nature rapidly provides us with reminders as to the real state of affairs.

MSNBC - Experts: Ethanol boom could mean water bust

ENN - U.S. ethanol rush may harm water supplies: report

You would probably be surprised by the amount of companies that have promised, and succeeded, in going 100% green (at least in terms of electricity)! As of July 9 this year, the amount of 100% green power that companies were purchasing for their US operations stood at more than 3 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Partnership.

The most recent company soon to join their ranks will be the U.S. global financial services company ING. Announced on the first of the month, ING is agreeing to purchase clean, emission-free wind energy credits for its United States operations amounting to a total of 100% of its electricity usage in the US.

"ING is committed to conducting its business responsibly around the globe and Environmental protection is a fundamental part of this commitment," said Tom McInerney, ING Executive Board member, chairman and chief executive officer, ING Insurance Americas. "We make decisions about sustainability every day at ING, which is why we are part of a worldwide dialogue that addresses climate change and why we focus on developing strategies to mitigate ING’s impact on the environment."

This is in line with ING’s desire to become 100% carbon-neutral by the end of 2007, which they announced at the beginning of 2007. Marcus Peacock, EPA’s deputy administrator, had this to say in response to ING’s most recent announcement:

America is shifting to a ‘green culture,’ with more and more businesses understanding that environmental responsibility is everyone’s responsibility. EPA commends ING for making a long-term commitment to protecting the environment by purchasing green power.

ING has already made massive strides to offset their carbon usage, by either minimizing the amount that they use or purchasing credits. In addition, they offset all global business travel by investing in the planting and rehabilitation of 300 hectares of degraded tropical rainforest in Malaysia.

But if you’re looking for a more visible demonstration of their green efforts, you need look no further than their 500,000-square-foot office building under construction in Windsor, Connecticut.

The ING design team worked hard in consort with local energy distributor Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) to ensure that the building was as carbon friendly as possible. The building incorporates sensors that turn off the lights when a room is empty, light dimmers on the building’s exterior, and an Earth-friendly rooftop air-conditioning system with extra efficient controls and air-handling units.

And, if you’re after figures rather than flashy shows of support, then you’ll be pleased to hear that CL&P have announced that the measures being undertaken by ING in their new building will amount to energy savings amounting to 1.87 million gallons of oil, or enough to provide 3,376 homes with electricity each year.

As for their most recent announcement of wind power to supply their current installations, ING will buy 70 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean wind energy from leading wind energy marketer and developer Community Energy, Inc. for an initial two-year purchase. The purchase will power some 10,000 U.S.-based employees in Atlanta, Denver, California, Hartford, New York, Arizona, and West Chester, Pennsylvania, along with several other major offices and nearly 100 smaller regional offices throughout the United States.

The environmental benefit estimated for their recent purchases amount to a whopping offset of more than 43,270 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This impact is the equivalent of planting more than 38,981 acres of trees or removing over 9,057 cars from the road each year.

Brent Alderfer, president of Pennsylvania-based wind energy marketer and developer Community Energy, said,

ING, an industry leader in securing the financial future of its customers, now extends that leadership to a secure environmental future for everyone. We commend ING on its commitment to environmental integrity with its clean energy purchase and for setting the standard for corporate leadership on the environment.

ING’s online component will follow suit by purchasing renewable energy in January of next year.

ENN - ING to Power All U.S. Operations with Wind Power

EPA - Green Power Partnership

ING - ING and Climate Change

Photo courtesy of ING - ING House – Headquarters of ING Group, Amsterdam

A lot of the time I write on what needs to happen, on the lack of action being taken across the world, and how it is that, without said action, we’re all going to H-E-double-hockey-sticks in a hand basket. This time, I get to write about people who have already done something, and how maybe we can follow in their steps.

An Associated Press article tells of a farmer from Creston, Iowa, who has finally found a use for the strong winds that have always swept across his open farm land. Joe Weisshaar is the farmer, and he is one of many farmers taking the initiative to help stem the tide of rising prices.

"It’s always been windy here," says Brian Zachary, Weisshaar’s son-in-law and next-door neighbor. "It’s a resource that’s just been slipping away."

The energy prices which are beginning to rise planetwide have begun to affect the farmers, long before it will get to crunch time for the rest of us. Many of those small farms, the first to be affected, are trying to cut their requirements by turning to biodiesel fuel, wind turbines and more efficient tilling practices.

This not only helps the farmers cut their costs, but it reduces their environmental impact as well. And while not a set of new practices, they are now becoming more and more necessary.

But for Joe, he only managed to step through the murky world of paperwork and federal funding, with the help of his son in law, Brian, who has skill in grant writing. Once again, the government is simply not making it easy enough for people to cut costs and environmental imprint.

"I started going to a bunch of seminars, trying to figure out how to do this. But I was going no place," said Weisshaar Snr.

Erecting a wind turbine halfway between his house and his daughter’s house next door has elevated Joe to status of local hero. Passers-by randomly drop in, having noticed the giant construction from the road, to congratulate and investigate.

"They see it and they’re excited about it," said Mary Jane Weisshaar, Joe’s wife. "A lot of people pull into the driveway and they say ‘I’ve wanted to do something like that.’ But they don’t have a clue."

The best thing for the Weisshaar’s is that the turbine produces enough energy at times that they are able to bank up the excess for the less windy months of the year. If necessary, they would also be able to sell their energy back to the electricity company, but Weisshar, it’s more economically feasible to hold on to the excess.

The other way I mentioned that these farmers are helping cut the cost and helping the environment is their fuels. Biodiesel fuel is cheaper to acquire and burns more cleanly than gas. In addition, the fact that they can make it themselves reduces the stress of having to worry about tomorrow’s gas prices.

"We all know we’re on a razor’s edge with oil supply and refining capacity," said Steve Fugate, an Iowa-based energy consultant. "It won’t take a lot, something catastrophic happening, and then it’s not crazy to suggest oil prices might double."

Fugate, among other duties, helps run the Yoderville Co-op in Iowa, which allows farmers in the region to pool their resources and share equipment in the making of biodiesel fuel. Other methods, much less extravagant methods, of saving fuel and environmental impact is simply minimizing the amount of trips one needs to make to plow a field.

Sadly, at the moment, the government is simply not doing enough to help. The Weisshaars’ turbine set them back $140,000, of which only $29,000 was covered by their approved U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

They don’t expect to see a full pay off for another 10 to 15 years, but with ballooning energy costs, they wouldn’t be surprised to see that number drop as well.

MSNBC - More farmers harvesting wind, biodiesel

photo by Dirk Ingo Franke.
licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 1.0

Editor’s note: As commenter pointed out, there was an error in the post originally — the land space presented in Mills’ presentation is 92 miles square, not 92 square miles. We apologize for the mistake, and have corrected it.

Throughout the past decade or so, whenever anyone has proposed the idea of implementing a solar power generation system, they have been mocked and scorned, especially within the United States where it was believed that the landmass needed to power the entire country was simply unfeasible.

A scene from The West Wing depicted the solar power proponent placing a small square over the entirety of Nevada, suggesting that was all that would be needed.

Speaking at the International Solar Energy Society conference, chairman and chief scientific officer of solar company Ausra David Mills presented a paper (PDF) that proposed solving the United States energy problems by switching entirely to solar. He even promised solving night-time energy problems with solar power.

His company has been perfecting the solution presented, but it would not be a small change by any stretch of the imagination.

Using a Fresnel configuration — essentially based upon the lens design of the same name, which allows for thinner and lighter lenses to capture light in, say, lighthouses — the mirrors would collect heat to warm tubes of liquid, rather than solar cells. The liquid turned to steam by the solar energy would thus power nearby turbines, and create electricity.

It’s not a new technology, and Mills accepts this, but he believes it to be the best technology, because he believes that the tubes will hold heat and still produce steam at night.

The paper that Mills presented also calculated the total land space needed to fulfill all of America’s power requirements: a total of 92 miles square.

The problem arises in what would be the next step of the process: integration with the current electric infrastructure. In fact, the entire system would have to be revamped. The current AC grid would have to be converted to High Voltage DC, so that the 50% loss of power across transfer lines would be reduced to 3%.

Mills believes that this is a necessary, yet huge, undertaking, but would move the country from "capital-intensive fossil fuel plants that need to run 24/7" to "electricity created by people’s and the economy’s daily rhythm." Renewable sources such as solar and wind both follow this latter description closely.

The company knows that their proposal is more of a thought experiment rather than a plan near implementation, but they are doing their part to move us forward. In fact, in addition to their "thought experiment," Ausra is developing a 175-megawatt solar power plant which will utilize their solar liquid tubes, hopefully hitting the market by mid-2009.

Their business is based around solar power generation and solar power storage. It is the future, they believe, and a future that will grant humans a safe environment to live in. The US Southwest is all but calling out for such an experiment to be implemented, with its constant sunshine. And though California’s Mojave Desert power stations are nothing more than power generation for peak times, one day, maybe, we could see the integration of solar as the main power source, rather than a back-up.

"We’re hoping to make announcements at the end of the month for multiple projects," Mills says.

Here’s hoping!

Green Wombat - Solar Nation: Can the Sun Power the U.S.? via EcoGeek - 92 Miles Sq. of Solar Could Power the USA

Ausra’s ISES Paper (PDF)

International Solar Energy Society

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