http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/ Engadget Comments for Two mammoth solar plants to generate 800 megawatts in California http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 11:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 11:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 11:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 12:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 4:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 21st 2008 9:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
The idea of each home generating its own solar power and distributing that back to the grid is much more balanced than carving out dozens of square miles of countryside. Still, it's a step in the right direction.. away from nuclear and fossil.]]>Aug 18th 2008 10:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/what exactly is so tiny about england that it cant spare a few thousand square miles for solar energy?

This is a case of priority.If you where to knock down a few hundred thousand of those of those ridiculously overpriced and under designed crap and old terraced houses, from the first industrial revolution (which england is riddled with), not only would england look nicer , but it wouldn't need so much energy.(Just because they are old , doesn't make them nice or worth keeping)

Your statement is typical of English mentality (and I am English). You have to invest before things get better, and a typical brits idea of investing is to buy a pile of crap , bodge it up as cheaply as possible, then flog it on to some desperate plonker for a silly profit.Repeat until you can afford a proper house.The end result is England as it is today. A huge pile of under-invested overpriced, bodged up, quite frankly shit houses.

As far as i am concerned , you can nock all those terraced houses down and replace them with solar arrays.It would do the country the world of good and a row of terraced houses is the ideal site for a nice long solar array.You could even build a pub at the end of each array to keep the environmentalists happy.

England has plenty of space, what it doesn't have is the required mentality.




]]>Aug 18th 2008 10:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 11:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
I just love Engadget. :D]]>Aug 18th 2008 11:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
That's a rather ideological way of looking at it and you're skirting issues which have little to do with what I was talking about.
Your sweeping statements about the state of housing in the UK may well be valid butI wouldnt want a plant like this within my line of sight.

The reality is that there's not going to be many places in the UK that would welcome 12 solid square miles of solar power plant and whilst replacing housing with it may sound like a good idea to you, you're then left with some rather pressing questions such as where to rehome all those people and who pays for it?

Knocking down hundreds of terraced houses, and replacing them with solar arrays isn't going to solve the problem that england is full of property developers barely meeting guidelines to make big bucks.

What is needed is a government with some real balls to enforce positive developments. The recent energy efficiency ratings were a good first step but has simply resulted in more paper work and cash grabbing agents rather than any real improvements, such as making it a legal requirement to provide renewable energy in each property, eg incorporating solar tech in the rooves of all new and resale homes.

In my opinion, this decentralised method is far more feasible in the UK. If we all contributed to the grid while we weren't using power, it'd make for a more efficient society and one that didnt have to worry about finding land specifically for this eyesore.

Now tell me I'm wrong.]]>Aug 18th 2008 11:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 1:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
What is practical and extremely viable is wind, wave and tidal stream power]]>Aug 18th 2008 11:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/walmarts_solar.php

@cmj: I live in Washington State (just south of Seattle) and we are known for for being the rainy Northwest yet plenty of people have solar panels up here. A quote from the Northwest Solar Center: "During the three summer months Seattle gets 97% as much sun as San Diego. On an annual basis, Seattle gets about 1/3 less than San Diego. Seattle recieves about 3.5 average peak sun hours per year. so a 1Kw solar array will generate about 1000 kWh's per year." http://northwestsolarcenter.org/Faq/faq.html

It's FREE energy, don't say it's "impractical".]]>Aug 18th 2008 12:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 12:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
I wouldnt say you where wrong .
The core of my issue is that these old houses are way past it.They need replacing with something that not only looks nice, but uses a lot less energy (in particular to heat). Stuffing a bit of insulation in the loft is not doing gonna do it.
As you say, whats needed are some balls from government to stop giving out grants to houses that are environmentally way past their sell by dates and do something to encourage home owners to knock down and replace old terraced English housing with houses that will be suitable for the next 100 years..

The deal is simple.Encourage people (through financial motivation) to nock down old houses and replace them with near zero energy houses. Then theres no need for fields of collectors.








]]>Aug 18th 2008 12:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 1:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:58AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 20th 2008 8:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
]]>Aug 18th 2008 7:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
Just don't let AMD do it - their numerical designation since the Athlon hasn't been helpful.]]>Aug 18th 2008 12:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 5:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/You really don't know anything about nuclear power do you? Leave the comments to the professionals please. Uranium is far from the only fissile material on the Earth. You can start here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor_technology#Current_technologies and you can follow up with some Nuclear Engineering seminars at your local university.]]>Aug 19th 2008 12:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 1:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 3:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 5:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/?]]>Aug 18th 2008 10:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
Also.. 12.5 sq miles! I know there is a lot of unused land, but to see something like this would be an eyesore to anyone. (cool to see the first couple times yes, but eventually ugly).

I don't imagine a full blown coal plant takes much more than 1 sq mile. Yes ugly, but more efficent. If carbon emissions is your beef, don't get me started. Go talk with China or any "third world" developing countries about your green ideals. US is not the problem here.

I want solar to work but the more and more of it I see, the less faith I have in it.

If only they invested this money in clean and undeinably safe nuclear.

]]>Aug 18th 2008 10:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
As for the cost, that's irrelevant. What matters is the cost per kilowatt-hr that consumers pay. How a company structures its internal costs is its business, assuming they are funding the endeavor themselves. If they did't think they could get long-term costs to the point where they can sell the final energy output profitably yet at a low cost, they wouldn't be getting into this business.]]>Aug 20th 2008 12:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Nuclear has its problems too you know. The cost to build a nuclear plant is outrageous now (due to safety concerns) and the price and man work for enriched uranium is quite the feat too.
I am all for ideas like this.. we honestly need to have the government subsidize renewable energy initiatives and tax the coal and gas plants more. if anything think if future generations and smog levels those asthmatics will have to live in.

Seriously just use your noodle a bit more before spewing all that crap out of your mouth.]]>Aug 18th 2008 11:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/So are you volunteering to have the next nuclear reactor built in your backyard? If so by all means have at it. On the other hand when is the last time you heard about a solar array going critical and releasing trace amounts of radioactive material into the air? That or leaking it into the water like a recent US sub? Solar may not be the best option, but there is plenty of unused area in the southwest, Texas, and even the plains towards the Rockies that would be great for solar energy. Not to say that nuclear is not a viable and mostly safe alternative energy source, but whats a few hundred miles or so of uninhabited land lost to solar farms really hurt?]]>Aug 18th 2008 12:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
But what are you going to do with your spent nuclear fuel rods? Do you have enough land to store them for thousands of years? That's one of the problems that we are facing here in the US.

http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_waste_storage/nuclear_waste_storage.html

And if you plan on just storing them far away, just realize that means these potential nuclear disasters are on your roads and train tracks to where ever you think you might have room to store them.

Nuclear is a wonderful SHORT TERM solution for a LONG TERM problem.]]>Aug 18th 2008 12:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
Also, coal isn't as dirty as you think. Even compared to 10 years ago, today's coal plants are significantly cleaner given the right scrubbers have been installed. Sulfur dioxide emissions have been reduced to nearly 99% on many plants in the Southeast.

If we can get true clean coal technology funded and going, such as carbon capture and sequestration, then we'll see coal that would emit less than 1% of the greenhouse gases and other pollutants that come out of them today. Less than 1%! Theoretically, it is even possibly to completely eliminate all greehouse emissions.

Nonethless, we need nuclear, which is safer and more efficient than ever before. The only problem is the massive cost of these projects, which hasn't come down any since the 70s. There is also the issue of nuclear waste, but if the US would just start recycling spent fuel the situation could be improved significantly (as many other nuclear-powered nations have been doing for years). There are certain cavetas with recycled fuel, though, and the energy required to recycle fuel isn't free, but its still a better solution than burying it in Yucca mountain which quite frankly, will probably never be finished and will never receive the funding it needs to be fully built. ]]>Aug 18th 2008 12:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions

Even if you were to assume these figures are a couple of years old, we in the US are bigger polluters per head than China. So either way, we're not the ecological wonderland you imagine.]]>Aug 18th 2008 2:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
kal326: When was the last time you heard of a Nuclear plant going critical and releasing radioactive material? Modern nuclear plants have a catalyst that is required for the reaction to take place. If conditions are not ideal the reaction stops. Due to this development a modern nuclear facility cannot "go critical" it would break the laws of physics for it to do so.

James: Advances in the use of Nuclear fuel have the harmful half-life down to hundreds of years instead of thousands, and there are advances promising to push this down into mere decades in the near future. This of course requires modern nuclear facilities, not the 40+ year old antiques the US uses.

Modern Nuclear facalities can also operate on the spent fuel from older plants, greatly reducing the ammount of materials needed and the storage space required for spent fuel. Once the spent fuel is processed at the modern facility the remaining harmful half-life is also reduced to the hundreds of years instead of the thousands.

The modernization of Nuclear and the environmentalists refusal to accept is the reason the founder of Greenpeace left the organization.

France at least knows the benefits and gat a majority of their energy from modern nuclear facilities. Other countries even pay France to take their spent fuel and run it through Frances' nuclear plants.

You would think the US would build some modern nuclear facilities if for no other reason than to process the spent fuel from their older nuclear plants and make it safer for storage.

]]>Aug 18th 2008 3:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
To whatever post said that solar is free energy... you're an idiot. Go fill your rooftop with solar panels and tell me how much free costs.

Oh and I will gladly live next to a Nuclear Power Plant. Springfield doesn't seem to mind, nor do I. I truly feel driving my car is FAR more dangerous than living next to a nuclear plant.]]>Aug 18th 2008 4:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 10:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/Aug 18th 2008 11:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/two-mammoth-solar-plants-to-generate-800-megawatts-in-california/
Not really. My inner evil genius took over for a second there.

I agree that Nevada is a perfect place, but the main issue isn't location, it's cost. The multi-trillion dollar oil companies need to realize that it's entirely their fault that the world is in such a "We need to go green!" state of mind. If they would take their heads out of their asses and see that spending some of their profits on green energy would not only calm the hatred towards them, but it would allow them to continue their business, as (at least with today's technology), there is no way to comletely replace fossil fuels.]]>Aug 18th 2008 12:01PM