http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/science/earth/06solar.html?_r=1&ref=us
I recently read this article provided by the New York Times written by Felicity Barringer, about the US finally approving solar power plants. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved the building of the first large-scale solar energy plants, both in California, yesterday October 5th.
"These projects are milestones in our focused effort to rapidly and responsibly capture renewable energy resources on public lands,” Salazar said in signing the final Records of Decision for the initiatives. “These projects advance the President’s agenda for stimulating investment in cutting-edge technology, creating jobs for American workers, and promoting clean energy for American homes, businesses and industry.”
The article states that the the plants will be built in the California desert and the building will be combined with the development of wind and geothermal power.
Geothermal energy is clean, renewable energy from heat simmering within the earth's bedrock.Geothermal's potential as a clean energy source has raised huge hopes, and its advocates believe it could put a significant dent in American dependence on fossil fuels (James Glanz, Energy & Environment, NY Times).
There will be two plants, one located in the Imperial Valley (6,360 acres) that is 790 megawatts that was proposed by Tessra Solar which will use “Suncatchers” — reflectors in the shape of radar dishes. The other, located on the 422 acres of Lucerne Valley is said to be a 45 megawatt system. The two combined will provide enough energy for 566,000 homes to be powered in California (this is the nation's fastest growing solar power-using state).
Also mentioned in the article was Ken Salazar expecting to sign off on 5 more projects this year and that this decision came shortly after the announcement of the White House soon to be going under the knife itself; the roof is being remolded for solar powered panels.
However the projects are to be followed by a "long series of setbacks for climate and energy legislation in Congress."Lack of votes for the limiting of emissions bill was a downfall due to fears of " voter backlash." Even though there was federal approval for the project there will still be many hurdles to overcome such as more land and capacity which will be or is already booked. San Diego Gas & Electric’s 123-mile proposed Sunrise Powerlink will come into play i.e. it has been approved, though there are complications with federal and state courts.
“This project reflects President Obama’s strong commitment to U.S. leadership in solar energy and the jobs it will create here at home,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. “Deploying solar energy technologies across the country will help America lead the global economy for years to come.”
This article caught my attention, first because I know very little about solar power being used as an energy source and thought it a good reason to look into what it does for the greater good of the environment. Second, because I just moved into a new apartment that, by the way, is wonderful and is known for how good and "green" the community is. My property manager is about the cutest, most uptown and chic hippie I've ever met and she really seemed to have a lot of "going green" knowledge that she informed me and my sister about and it was really quite interesting. Also, my friend Brandon is going to school to be an environmentalist and is constantly going off on tangents about "what the environment needs...what the people could be/should be doing to help..." and of course, " what our government should be doing to inspire those who have the money to blow (celebs/high class idiots), to spend it on making our nation more eco friendly; which in turn would inspire (set a trend) others to turn to using what our mamma's (Mother Earth) gave us!"
For those of you who don't know a lot about how solar power works (like me) here are a couple links to further explain what all it can bring to the public, how it works, pros cons etc...
http://www.nytimes.com/info/solar-energy/?inline=nyt-classifier
http://www.solarhome.org/infowhatissolarpower.html
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