Power To The People!

(apologies to Citizen Smith )

MY friend Corlene started a thread about solar power, something that is a lot closer to our minds in these carbon-conscious days.  After all, something has to power all our computer devices.

But that started me thinking that there is usually more than one way to skin a cat (oops, my burmese just left the room in a sulk!)

Sure the use of solar cells to produce power for all our computers is a hot (!) topic - but as well as the photvoltaic cells that everyone thinks of, there's also the solar thermal energy option to convert the suns rays to heat (by focussing with mirrors) and driving stirling engines that in turn drive electrical generators. It's actually considered quite efficient( vs photvoltaic conversion, for a given area), and unlike solar cells there are a number of ways that the operating hours of the generator can be extended by heat storage.

Solar Thermal Power and Desalination Plant

But wait, theres more!  I had the great idea that while we are creating steam to drive those generators, we could be desalinating seawater - that doesn't strike much of a chord here in NZ, but it certainly would in North Africa.
And sure enough, someone's already written a paper on it - back in 2002, in fact, but even more relevant now. Some of the world's poorest countries could be selling power while at the same time reversing desertification caused by impoverished land management.

Then there is wind power - a good fit with solar, as if the sun isnt shining, chances are the wind is blowing!  Small local devices like the"power flowers" shown can do much to reduce our carbon footprint.

And those who dismiss these solutions as uneconomic are missing the point - Shouldn't we be doing everything in our power (!) to reduce the levels at which we are polluting the planet?

and what if you could run a surplus, and feed it back into the grid - instead of a bill, imagine getting your monthly power cheque! how cool is that!!