I heard an interview on ABC radio last night with the head of EnviroMission (the company planning to build the solar tower). He claimed that everything was still on track etc. However, new improvements in technology meant that the whole structure could be scaled down from what was originally intended. Instead of a 1km high tower constructed on an apron 7km in diameter, the tower would now be only 500m high, on an apron 2km in diameter. Even so, it’s expected to generate the same amount of power as was originally announced i.e. sufficient to supply the needs of 200,000 households in the border areas of NSW, VIC and SA where it’s supposedly going to be built.
Of course, nothing has actually been built yet. Watch this space.
The 2km ‘base’ is a clear roof that heats up the air and ground beneath it? Magnifying the chimney effect?
How do they keep the roof of the base clean? Free of sand and dust.
That thing is so big I would think that dust would be the least of the problems. Sand dunes would be as likely.
Pull water out of the air? Might be done, if you can use the velocity of some of the air to compress it and extract what little water is in it. Then recycle the water.
But, the water used to clean is going to evaporate REAL fast with any kind of ‘spray’ cleaning.
Apparently so, according to the proponent of the tower Askance. It wasn’t a particularly hard-hitting interview though. The focus seemed to be more on the public relations “cutting edge science” angle than the “cost/benefit analysis” side of things.
I’ll believe it when I see construction under way.
