2016-10-27

[public] 914K views, 25.2K likes, 265 dislikes audio only

Tom Scott

In the Aljarafe region of Spain, there's PS10 and PS20: concentrated solar power towers. They're huge towers surrounded by heliostats: movable mirrors that track the sun and reflect its light onto a giant boiler. They are beautiful, but they're also controversial: here's why.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

California Energy Commission, (2015). Ivanpah Solar Electric

Generating System Avian & Bat Monitoring Plan 2013-2014 Annual Report (Revised). Nipton, CA: Solar Partners I, II, and VIII.

http://docketpublic.energy.ca.gov/PublicDocuments/07-AFC-05C/TN204258_20150420T145549_Ivanpah_Solar_Electric_Generating_System_Avian__Bat_Monitoring.pdf [PDF]

Farmer, J. and Lafond, F. (2016). How predictable is technological progress?. Research Policy, 45(3), pp.647-665. 10.1016/j.respol.2015.11.001 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733315001699

Fraunhofer Institut for Solar Energy Systems IS, (2013). Levelized Cost of Electricity Renewable Energy Technologies. Freiburg, Germany.

https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/publications/veroeffentlichungen-pdf-dateien-en/studien-und-konzeptpapiere/study-levelized-cost-of-electricity-renewable-energies.pdf [PDF]