280-megawatt solar plant headed to Arizona desert

[Henry]

Solar Power: It's what's for desert.

See? Larry gets it.

[GibbsFactor]

Here's a good read for those of us looking to get into the energy sector with the hopes of finding that alternate fuel source. Here's a tip, don't use what's listed below.

THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY!

All of these sources provide us the energy we need to live our busy lives.

Energy Ant is the center of atoms. The renewable energy atom is surrounded by pictures of renewable energy fuels: water, solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. The nonrenewable atom is surrounded by non-renewable energy fuels: oil, coal, nuclear, and natural gas. Secondary Energy Sources, electricity and hydrogen, are in the middle.

It comes in different forms -- heat (thermal), light (radiant), mechanical, electrical, chemical, and nuclear energy. Energy is in everything. We use energy to do everything we do, from making a jump shot to baking our favorite cookies to sending astronauts into space -- energy is there, making sure we have the power to do it all. There are two types of energy -- stored (potential) energy and working (kinetic) energy. For example, the food you eat contains chemical energy, and your body stores this energy until you release it when you work or play. Learn more about these different forms of energy.

All forms of energy are stored in different ways, in the energy sources that we use every day. These sources are divided into two groups -- renewable (an energy source that can be replenished in a short period of time) and nonrenewable (an energy source that we are using up and cannot recreate in a short period of time). Renewable and nonrenewable energy sources can be used to produce secondary energy sources including electricity and hydrogen.

Renewable energy sources include solar energy, which comes from the sun and can be turned into electricity and heat. Wind, geothermal energy from inside the earth, biomass from plants, and hydropower and ocean energy from water are also renewable energy sources.

However, we get most of our energy from nonrenewable energy sources, which include the fossil fuels -- oil, natural gas, and coal. They're called fossil fuels because they were formed over millions and millions of years by the action of heat from the Earth's core and pressure from rock and soil on the remains (or "fossils") of dead plants and animals. Another nonrenewable energy source is the element uranium, whose atoms we split (through a process called nuclear fission) to create heat and ultimately electricity.

We use all these energy sources to generate the electricity we need for our homes, businesses, schools, and factories. Electricity "energizes" our computers, lights, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners, to name only a few uses.

We use energy to run our cars and trucks. Both the gasoline used in our cars, and the diesel fuel used in our trucks are made from oil. The propane that fuels our outdoor grills and makes hot air balloons soar is made from oil and natural gas.

[DjTj]

It's really a pretty simple technology, and what I like about this is that I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be completely scalable ... you could always add more mirrors to get more steam, and you could just put one on your roof to act as your water heater.

http://www.abengoasolar.com/sites/solar/en/noticia6.jsp

[JMS]

Google is your friend.

So this plant isn't photovoltaic, it uses mirrors to heat a "heat transfer fluid", which is used to make steam to turn a turbine..

My bad, thanks for the correction.

[Xameil]

That's a waste of space, this little puppy can generate 1.21 gigawatts...

no no no...you NEED 1.21 jiggawatts...sheesh get it right :doh:

:laugh:

[mjah]

:twitch: :fortune: :violin: :dunce: :doh1:

Hey, you're the end-of-times guy. You should be all over this.

[Switchgear]

no no no...you NEED 1.21 jiggawatts...sheesh get it right :doh:

:laugh:

I'm a civilian working on a military base where a system is being built and tested that stores (and quickly releases) more than 1.21 gigawatts in capacitor banks. A friend of mine worked on the project for a while, he said the first time they exceeded that amount some nervous smiles were passed around the room.

[Corcaigh]

- If you legitimately blow up a nuclear plant, you end up with a bigger explosion, guaranteed steam release, and a near-guaranteed radiological catastrophe that will last for at least hundreds of years, if not thousands.

The containment vessels are so strong, the best way is to target the operators so that the reactor goes critical and so the explosion is from the inside.

The fate of the operators at the Idaho SL-1 tiny 3MW experimental reactor is worth reading.

"The resulting power surge caused the reactor power to reach 20,000MW in about .01 seconds" - this was surge by a factor of almost 7000.

"3 January 1961: A reactor explosion ... killed one navy technician and two army technicians, and released radioactivity "largely confined"... to the reactor building. One technician was blown to the ceiling of the containment dome and impaled on a control rod. His body remained there until it was taken down six days later. The men were so heavily exposed to radiation that their hands had to be buried separately with other radioactive waste, and their bodies were interred in lead coffins."

And a memo ...

SUBJECT: Internment of Radioactive Remains

TO: Superintendent

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington 11, Virginia

1. Radioactive remains of SP4 Richard L. McKinley were interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 25 January 1961.

2. It is desired that the following remark be placed onthe permanent record, DA Form 2122, Record of Internment:

"Victim of nuclear accident. Body is contaminated with long-life radio-active isotopes. Under no circumstances will the body be moved from this location without prior approval of the Atomic Energy Commission in consultation with this headquarters."

http://www.radiationworks.com/sl1reactor.htm

[mjah]

Another nuclear-power-vs-human-body anecdote, this time from Chernobyl:

Valery Khodemchuk was the night-shift manager on duty at 1:23 a.m. when the core started overheating during an experiment he was conducting and the reactor's automatic shutdown system did not respond. Khodemchuk rushed to the observation deck just as the pressure inside the core reached a critical mass. He was vaporized.

The Silver Lining In Chernobyl's Cloud

[Corcaigh]

Another nuclear-power-vs-human-body anecdote, this time from Chernobyl:

Khodemchuk rushed to the observation deck just as the pressure inside the core reached a critical mass. He was vaporized.

You gotta love the thinking ... mmm, it looks like the reactor is running out of control, let's go take a look. :doh: