Ausra’s Power Plants Might Power 90% Of USA
By Nick March 20, 2008
According to Ausra, a solar power company, their solar-thermal technology can power up to 90 percent of the electricity of the U.S.A. and they will still have enough power for most of electrical cars. Also, they say that this could result in a reduction of 40 percent of the greenhouse gas emission with an area of 9,600 square miles.
One of the drawbacks for Ausra is the storage. If they will develop a technology that will store the energy for 16 hours, then they will “take on coal”. This technology is being developed at Bakersfield, California and is expected to be completed this summer. Another is the distribution of the power. It will be very hard to transport the energy in big cities like New Yor, but researchers are trying to build an efficient conductor all around the country.
This is an important step for the solar energy and for the Earth’s health as well as for all the people in the world. I hope that they finish their research as soon as possible.
Topics: Energy, Research, Tech |
12 Responses to “Ausra’s Power Plants Might Power 90% Of USA”
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Energy storage in car batteries could store 16 hours worth of power as the sit 95% of the time. Just oversize the batteries and pay the car owners for a rental fee.
I wish you luck! We need this more that ever. We can’t keep paying higher and higher prices for oil products and everything that depends on oil to make and transport it.
Bet it’ll never work. The big oil companies have too much clout for one company with a good idea to take on.
g’luck Ausra.
Pretty cool…If it materializes.
Average solar energy hitting the surface of the Earth on the contiguous United States: 250 watts/meter^2
Average power usage of the United States: 3.3 terawatts (3.3*10^13 watts) (which *90% is 2.97*10^13)
(2.97*10^13)/250 = 118,800,000,000 meters^2, or 118,800,000 km^2
Surface area of the US: 9,826,630 km^2
Basically, they’re lieing. Even if Ausra invented a 100% efficient way to convert sunlight into usable electrical energy (which they don’t and can’t), and even if they occupied every single square inch of the U.S.’s surface with solar collection facilities (which they won’t, because at the very least we need somewhere to grow crops), they STILL wouldn’t have enough area in the United States alone to power 90% of the country. Maybe if we occupy Europe, kill everyone there, and make the continent one big solar panel…
I applaud your cause, but unfortunately your message is hampered by your typos.
The freshman made a mistake:
1km = 1000m, 1km^2 = 1000*1000 1m^2
118,800,000,000 meters^2 = 118,800 km^2
How about they deck 1/6 of Texas ?
(Texas area: 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²))
Ah, you’re right, I always forget about that. Damn…
In the long run, I’m putting my money on geothermal. All the clean energy we could possibly use is right beneath our feet, we just have to go get it.
All they need do is pass another law. All large roofs, especially flat ones, MUST be covered in solar panels. Then, once that gets going, pass a similar law that would mandate “solar singles” on all new and re-roofed construction.
In the begining the energy gains ould be small, but over the long haul it would soon make a huge dent in the dependence of saudi oil.
Hell… this should have been done decades ago. If you’re interested, Germany has the LARGEST installation of solar energy in the world and it works!
Solar panels on the roofs of every home in America?
Great idea Sparticus, until the panels in Florida are destroyed by hurricanes, or the ones in the mid-west are taken out by tornadoes.
Who is gonna pay to replace those?
No one.
Amen to NO HOMES Built without Solar!