From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Mon Aug 19 2002 - 12:16:58 MDT
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992688
Kilometre-tall power tower approved
14:35 19 August 02 NewScientist.com news service
Plans for a one-kilometre tall "Solar Tower" that would provide clean energy
for up to 200,000 homes have been approved by the Australian government. But
some environmental campaigners are questioning the practical benefits of the
scheme.
The 130 metre-wide tower would produce electricity using currents of air
heated by the Sun's rays. The tower itself would be surrounded by a vast
greenhouse, seven kilometers across. Hot air inside the greenhouse would be
effectively sucked up the tower through turbines at its base.
Heat-storing material inside the greenhouse would continue to heat air during
the night.
The massive structure would be more than twice as tall as the Petronas Towers
in Kuala Lumpar, and visible from 80 kilometres away.
Australian company EnviroMission plans to build it in the desert on the
border between New South Wales and Victoria. Australia's federal industry
minister put the £308m project into a fast-track planning process on
Thursday.
Fossil fuels
EnviroMission says the building would generate 760 gigawatt-hours of energy
per year.
Roger Higman, senior climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth, is
concerned that construction costs could outweigh the potential benefits.
"If they're planning to build a truly enormous tower they could use a lot of
fossil fuels," Higman told New Scientist. "It's not as if we are short of
ways to generate electricity without using fossil fuels."
Higman adds that a conventional wind farm could produce a comparable amount
of power without requiring so much construction work.
A smaller 200 metre tall prototype Solar Tower was built by a Spanish and
German team in Spain in 1982. If the New South Wales state authority gives
approval for the new tower, construction work could begin in 2003 and the
structure could be completed by 2005.
Will Knight
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