Arizona Solar Tower (Worlds 2nd largest building)

2011-07-26 11:22:23

#1

west-phoenix-az: Guns don't kill people. . . joe bidens advice does; +632|6777

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Massive-so … 57183.html

Massive solar tower in Arizona to be world's 2nd largest building

VIDEO (ABP must be disabled)

by Carina Sonn
azfamily.com
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 6:02 AM
Updated today at 10:38 AM

LA PAZ CO., Ariz.-- Plans for a massive solar tower are close to becoming a reality right in the middle of the Arizona desert.

A company called EnviroMission will break ground next year, 130 miles west of Phoenix in La Paz County.

The relatively new technology uses turbines to force air heated by the sun up through a 2,600-foot chimney, creating electricity.

The solar tower will generate more than 1 million megawatt hours, which would be enough for 150,000 homes, according to the company's president, Chris Davey.

"It doesn't use water; it does it reliably; it does it cost competitively," Davey explained. "I don't think the industry could ask for more than that."

The project will be massive.

Once completed, the greenhouse base will be more than 2 miles in diameter, the diameter of the tower will be the size of a football field.

It will be twice as high as the Empire State Building, and almost as big as the world's tallest building in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa.

Some 1,500 people will be hired to help build the $700 million facility.

A smaller prototype, only 660 feet high in comparison was built in Spain more than a decade ago.

EnviroMission is currently working on a land deal with the state, but says the Southern California Public Power Authority has already agreed on a 30-year power purchase agreement.

Company officials are from Australia but chose to build in the Valley because the environment back home wasn't as friendly. The country still relies heavily on coal and the Australian government didn't offer the same kind of incentives.

Conversely, Davey says the U.S. has been accommodating. The area between Quartzsite and Parker near the California border was chosen for three reasons: it's hot; it's flat; and it's close to transmission lines in both states.

More solar towers are planned for other states in the desert Southwest as well as Mexico, India and perhaps even Australia.

Arizona will likely get more, too.

"Arizona is large enough for us to build multiple facilities, where the first project is located, there's enough land for half a dozen facilities out there."

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2011-07-26 11:29:14

#2

menzo: ̏̏̏̏̏̏̏̏&#; +616|6833|Amsterdam‫

cool

https://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee37/menzo2003/fredbf2.png

2011-07-26 11:57:09

#3

Sturgeon: Member; +488|5328|Flintshire

Saw this yesterday, the article I read said that temperatures would reach 80-90^oC inside the greenhouses

Hate to get trapped in one of them.

https://bf3s.com/sigs/3dda27c6d0d9b22836605b152b9d214b99507f91.png

2011-07-26 13:59:58

#4

Stimey: +786|6507|Ontario | Canada

what a dumb fucking idea

2011-07-26 15:34:42

#5

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5745|London, England

Conceptually cool, but a gigantic waste of taxpayer dollars. The maintenance on that thing will be a giant pain in the ass, and expensive as fuck.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-07-26 15:43:32

#6

Sturgeon: Member; +488|5328|Flintshire

Read up about it, it's only the turbines that need maintenance.

2011-07-26 16:24:56

#7

Ilocano: buuuurrrrrrppppp.......; +341|7054

Jay wrote:
Conceptually cool, but a gigantic waste of taxpayer dollars. The maintenance on that thing will be a giant pain in the ass, and expensive as fuck.

Says the guy with contacts in the oil industry. Before you say anything, I have contacts in the oil industry as well.

But, in my opinion, I endorse this solar tower concept. Hugely expensive yes, but so was/is the space program. Surely solar technology could advance well with the amount of man-power and resources put into this project.

2011-07-26 16:48:06

#8

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5745|London, England

Ilocano wrote:
Jay wrote:
Conceptually cool, but a gigantic waste of taxpayer dollars. The maintenance on that thing will be a giant pain in the ass, and expensive as fuck.
Says the guy with contacts in the oil industry. Before you say anything, I have contacts in the oil industry as well.

But, in my opinion, I endorse this solar tower concept. Hugely expensive yes, but so was/is the space program. Surely solar technology could advance well with the amount of man-power and resources put into this project.

It's a dead end. It's not like this is new technology, it's tried technology, they built one in Spain. It's massively expensive and the kW per hour cost will be well above what people are willing to pay. The only reason this project got off the ground is San Francisco's obsession with anything green regardless of reality that has led to massive taxpayer subsidies. This money would've been better spent investing in battery technology. Generation isn't the issue, it's storage.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-07-26 17:11:23

#9

Ilocano: buuuurrrrrrppppp.......; +341|7054

Spain one was just a prototype. Obviously, this Arizona Solar tower (or two) will probably never make a profit. But it'll help lead the way for better and more efficient designs down the road. Build them across the nation, complement with other renewable energy technology, hook them up to the grid as supplemental power, compounding and compounding, to get us eventually away from fossil fuels as our primary source of energy.

2011-07-26 17:12:16

#10

jsnipy: ...; +3,277|6910|...

2011-07-26 17:15:07

#11

Sturgeon: Member; +488|5328|Flintshire

In an article I read it was set to break even after 11 years and should have a lifetime of 80 years..

http://www.gizmag.com/enviromission-sol … ble/19287/

Give it a read

2011-07-26 17:31:31

#12

Hurricane2k9: Pendulous Sweaty Balls; +1,538|6089|College Park, MD

Jay wrote:
Ilocano wrote:
Jay wrote:
Conceptually cool, but a gigantic waste of taxpayer dollars. The maintenance on that thing will be a giant pain in the ass, and expensive as fuck.
Says the guy with contacts in the oil industry. Before you say anything, I have contacts in the oil industry as well.

But, in my opinion, I endorse this solar tower concept. Hugely expensive yes, but so was/is the space program. Surely solar technology could advance well with the amount of man-power and resources put into this project.
It's a dead end. It's not like this is new technology, it's tried technology, they built one in Spain. It's massively expensive and the kW per hour cost will be well above what people are willing to pay. The only reason this project got off the ground is San Francisco's obsession with anything green regardless of reality that has led to massive taxpayer subsidies. This money would've been better spent investing in battery technology. Generation isn't the issue, it's storage.

It's not like we'll be able to speak up about it when the lizard people are systematically killing us in their camps.

https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/36793/marylandsig.jpg

2011-07-26 18:31:06

#13

Stingray24: Proud member of the vast right-wing conspiracy; +1,060|6833|The Land of Scott Walker

Wow, they're actually going to build it. Saw this idea pitched about a year ago.

2011-07-26 18:58:03

#14

Reciprocity: Member; +721|6968|the dank(super) side of Oregon

unless this alone will completely solve all our energy problems all at once there really is no reason to build it. advances in energy production must be a zero-sum game or it's just a waste of tax payer money.

2011-07-26 19:22:51

#15

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5745|London, England

Reciprocity wrote:
unless this alone will completely solve all our energy problems all at once there really is no reason to build it. advances in energy production must be a zero-sum game or it's just a waste of tax payer money.

There. Is. No. New. Technology. In. This. Project.

There is nothing to learn that we don't already know. It is a waste of money.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-07-26 19:23:39

#16

Stimey: +786|6507|Ontario | Canada

and space

2011-07-26 19:32:17

#17

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5745|London, England

Stimey wrote:
and space

A few miles of Arizona desert won't be missed But yes, it is a giant waste of space as well. Why did the Aussies reject it? Could it be that they're better with money than us and don't have a government that spends frivolously? Nah. I could build a dung burning generator, slap a green label on it, and idiots in California would hail me as a genius savior. Oh wait, they hate anything with an open flame. Back to the drawing board I go

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-07-26 19:32:24

#18

RTHKI: mmmf mmmf mmmf; +1,745|7124|Cinncinatti

its in the middle of the desert?

2011-07-26 19:33:04

#19

gurdeep: +812|5142|prolly

you could build 5000 of those in az and nobody would know the difference

2011-07-26 19:41:35

#20

Reciprocity: Member; +721|6968|the dank(super) side of Oregon

700 million. money better spent on a football stadium or war.

2011-07-26 19:42:41

#21

Hurricane2k9: Pendulous Sweaty Balls; +1,538|6089|College Park, MD

or the debt

2011-07-26 19:44:12

#22

gurdeep: +812|5142|prolly

Reciprocity wrote:
700 million. money better spent on a football stadium or war.

i hear la is getting a team in a few yrs

2011-07-26 19:46:06

#23

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5745|London, England

Reciprocity wrote:
700 million. money better spent on a football stadium or war.

No, I said it would've been better spent on research for storage. Once you get the storage problems worked out you could build all the green energy crap your heart desired. Until then it's gigantic waste of resources.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

2011-07-26 19:53:34

#24

Reciprocity: Member; +721|6968|the dank(super) side of Oregon

and I'm sure that whopping 700 million is all that stands between us and energy nirvana. they want to build their little mirror thing out in the desert, who fucking cares? 700 million is nothing.

2011-07-26 19:58:38

#25

Jay: Bork! Bork! Bork!; +2,006|5745|London, England

Reciprocity wrote:
and I'm sure that whopping 700 million is all that stands between us and energy nirvana. they want to build their little mirror thing out in the desert, who fucking cares? 700 million is nothing.

No, it's not nothing. It's going to be the gift that keeps on giving with higher energy prices for any idiot that plugs into it. Glad to see you feel that $700M is nothing though. Guess you're one of the lucky majority that receives more than he gives when filing taxes.

"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

BF2S Forums Arizona Solar Tower (Worlds 2nd largest building)

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Ilocano wrote:

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Reciprocity wrote:

Stimey wrote:

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