This is a great article about this new form of electricity generation called Solar Thermal Electricity Generation (STEG for short.)
Solar Thermal Electrical Generation (STEG) devices concentrate the sun’s thermal energy by mirrors or lenses to create intense heat, driving a steam-driven generator. The machines shave storage capacity to deliver steady round-the-clock electricity like conventional power plants.
You have to love these growth numbers as well:
Some 2.6 gigawatts of new photovoltaic capacity was installed in 2007 — a 40 percent jump from 2006 — fueled by $7.1 billion in investment ($2.8 billion from VC and private equity; the balance from quoted companies). Growth has averaged 40 percent a year since 2000.
I mean there are vast deserts in this country that could be used to house these STEG plants. Currently you have millions of gigawatts of energy simply being absorbed into sands of Death Valley and those sorts of places. That energy should be harnessed so we can run our homes without a need for coal, or oil. If you couple this with nuclear power plants then we could have 100% of our electricity from low polluting or renewable sources.
The best thing about this technology is there would be no expensive drilling, mining of coal, or environmental BS required. If it is daytime then you will get power. Then we would be able to use our coal to create oil to power our cars. This STEG looks like a great space to be long in for the next several years.
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