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July 17, 2006

All Energy for Europe Could Come from Concentrating Solar Power

Anglesey, UK [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

A study commissioned by the German Government shows in detail how Europe (including the UK and Ireland) can meet all its needs for electricity, cut emissions of CO2 from electricity generation by 70% by the year 2050, and phase out nuclear power at the same time, using concentrating solar power (CSP), according to a release from Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC).

"Every year, each square kilometer of desert receives solar energy equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil. Multiplying by the area of deserts worldwide, this is nearly a thousand times the entire current energy consumption of the world."

-- Dr. Franz Trieb, Project Manager for the two studies

The key to this revolution in electricity supply is the gradual replacement of old polluting power plants that rely on dwindling supplies of fuel with a greater range of non-polluting sources of energy that will be good for thousands of years.

In the scenario described in the new 'TRANS-CSP' study, the need for imported sources of energy will be reduced and this (coupled with the increased range of sources of energy) will help ensure the resilience and security of energy supplies.

But a key part of the proposals in this study and the earlier 'MED-CSP' study is the development of a solar-energy collaboration between countries of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EUMENA) to take advantage of the monumental quantities of energy that fall as sunlight on the world's hot deserts.

Dr. Franz Trieb, Project Manager for the two studies, said, "Every year, each square kilometer of desert receives solar energy equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil. Multiplying by the area of deserts worldwide, this is nearly a thousand times the entire current energy consumption of the world."

"We can tap in to this energy by using mirrors to concentrate sunlight and create heat. The heat may be used to raise steam and drive a generator in the conventional way. This kind of concentrating solar power (CSP) -- which is very different from the better-known photovoltaic solar panels -- has been producing electricity successfully in California for nearly 20 years," he added.

"The cost of collecting solar thermal energy equivalent to one barrel of oil is about US$50 right now (already less than the current world price of oil) and is likely to come down to around US$20 in future. Contrary to what is commonly supposed, it is entirely feasible and cost-effective to transmit solar electricity over long distances," explained Trieb.
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Reader Comments (18)
 
No image available
July 17, 2006
... I fail to see how this particular scenario would contribute in any way whatsoever to energy independence and the cutting of the chains of our bondage to people who hate us and want to, basically, prove to us that they are still superior (as they were while the Dark Ages devoured Europe). Do we then expect these countries to "cooperate" to supply us with their hot sands in any different fashion than they currently "cooperate" to supply us with their oil ??? Let us hear of no energy plan that puts us (the rest of the world) once again at the mercy of these players in the Middle East and elsewhere. They have shown their true colors. We need to manufacture our own energy, locally, to serve local needs, so that any monopolies that will surely form even from so self-perfecting a technology as green energy will be more amenable to local grassroots amelioration than some nation halfway across the planet.
Comment 1 of 18
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July 17, 2006
"But a key part of the proposals ... is the development of a solar-energy collaboration between ... Europe, the Middle East and North Africa..."

Hello, but is no one else choking on their ful medames at the above paragraph. The "key part" of the plan is to develop "collaboration" (cooperation) between Europe, North Africa and the MIDDLE EAST ? Aren't these last 2 players the very ones giving us daily conniption fits/ulcers in triplicate with their king-of-the-roost bluster about everything from poking fun at political/religious leaders (a God-given right - in democracies) to their intransigent attitude toward Israel to their abhorrent customs and practices against women to their threats to pull the oil plug every time anybody sniffs in their direction ???
Comment 2 of 18
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July 17, 2006
This report is broadly right except for the suggestion that all Europe's energy could come from CSP.

The TRANS-CSP report actually puts the main emphasis on *reducing* Europe's need for imported energy - CSP is the exception to that rule. In the scenario up to 2050 described in the TRANS-CSP report, no more than 15% of Europe's electricity would come from CSP imports.

Given the enormous quantities of energy falling as sunlight on the world's hot deserts, the potential for CSP really is vast.
Comment 3 of 18
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July 19, 2006
As a resident of the Sonoran Desert, I was wondering if the plan was to blot the sun from the sky in my backyard? The beautiful vistas in the western USA are a national treasure not to be taken lightly. Also, the deserts are full of wildlife, plantlife, and humanlife. Covering them with solar collectors may lead to just as many environmental problems as it alleviates.
Comment 4 of 18
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July 19, 2006
If Germany and the UK want to trade one dependancy for another in countries with unstable muslim governments, then the more power to them (pun intended). However, the concept would seem to be functional in the U S of A's own Mojave desert, providing American jobs, supporting American self-sufficiency, and narry a rag head in sight. There are projects going on now, so this study would seem to be additional support for the viability of such efforts. Is it too late to buy desert land?
Comment 5 of 18
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July 19, 2006
Further powerhouses are actually planned or in construction in Spain, with German, Spanish and US companies playing a major role.
Comment 6 of 18
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July 19, 2006
Back in the 1980's over 300MW of CSP were installed in California by an Israeli company. A new installation is in progress in Nevada by a Carolina firm that acquired rights to the Luz technology, has improved it's support structures and is using steam turbine technology originally developed for geothermal installations (Coincidently by another Isreali company). In the SW US, load spikes tend to correlate with sunny days (air conditioned usage).
Comment 7 of 18
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July 19, 2006
The shortest way to the (inofficial but clearer) summary is to download it here:

http://www.trecers.net/downloads/summary_en.pdf
Comment 8 of 18
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July 19, 2006
It's not only a vision - it's a realistic scenario.

You can find a multilingual summary of the studies at the Homepage of TREC ( www.TRECers.net ). There you can find a FAQ, a list of the members and information how you can support the realisation of the scenario, too.
Comment 9 of 18
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is it only a vision ? may it be succesfull?!
Comment 10 of 18
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July 19, 2006
In a broader sense, I think the key idea that we need to grasp is that there are better sources of energy that are readily available to us if we have the willpower to develop them. The recent news that the Chinese government is committed to spending $200 billion (far less than the cost of the fiasco in Iraq) to develop renewable energy sources is the sort of news that should be coming out of Washington.
Comment 11 of 18
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July 20, 2006
Don't worry,
the satellite-based studies of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) have shown that, using LESS THAN 0.3% of the entire desert areas of the MENA (Middle East, North Africa) region, Solar Thermal Power Plants can generate enough electricity and water to supply current demands in EU-MENA, and anticipated increases in those demands in the future.

0,3% are the area of one capital city. A quiet low price for fighting the climate change and producing water for the people in the deserts.
Comment 12 of 18
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July 26, 2006
My biggest energy cost is home heating. We are stuck using heating oil for home heating. I want to store heat from solar heating panels to heat our house. We have an old swimming pool that could store heat. But to get enough storage, it seems a phase change material must be used instead of water in the pool. The house has hot water radiators. Perhaps the newer vacuum tube panels could heat the house directly, but at great cost. Any ideas or leads on this?
Comment 13 of 18
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July 27, 2006
It is not clear from the report what is to be used to produce the solar power. Is it Triple Junction cells, or CIGS cells ? Or is it Stirling solar engines ? And why are they proposing to use mirrors instead of fresnel lenses ?
I like the sound of the idea - particularly the methodology for sending electricity vast distances without much loss of power - but it will be a Herculean task to persuade the countries of North Africa to let Europe fill their deserts with solar machinery.
Comment 14 of 18
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Re: Andrew Dickens' questions

I think there seems to be confusion in terms of what is meant by 'concentrating solar power'. In fact, this is NOT PV technology at all. It involves using the *heat* of the sun to operate a Stirling engine. They should have said "concentrating solar thermal power" to be precise, although they often to leave out the 'thermal' in the discourse.

And so photovoltaics are not involved in any way, thus Triple Junction cells, CIGS cells, and fresnel lenses are thus not relevant.

Check out the following for a past european project on dish-Stirling electricity production, quite interesting:
http://www.promes.cnrs.fr/PROJETS/Systemes/eng-stirling.htm
Comment 15 of 18
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July 31, 2006
I am not interpreting this as saying that they plan to put 100% of their solar concentrators in North Africa. Moreover, I don't think that more integration and shared benefits from that integration is necessarily a bad thing. If the only connection is to Europe and that is where their income is coming from, then I don't see all that many people wanting to jeopardize that. There will always be some fanatical buffoons who are quite happy to destroy themselves in order to harm someone else, but this kind of cooperation can only increase the numbers opposed to them.

In any case, the main message in this story is that concentrating solar power is a very real option for reducing GHG emissions and enhancing economies and, in most cases, energy security.
Comment 16 of 18
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August 2, 2006
Re the postings by Andrew, Antonio and Scott, yes CSP is quite different from photovoltaics. It is true that the concentrating technique is sometimes used with PV (using mirrors or lenses) but CSP normally means using mirrors to concentrate sunlight to create *heat* (as Antonio says). More information may be found at www.mng.org.uk/green_house/renewable_energy/csp.htm .

Regarding Andrew's suggestion that "it will be a Herculean task to persuade the countries of North Africa to let Europe fill their deserts with solar machinery.", the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC, www.trecers.net/) includes many representatives of countries in North Africa and the Middle East.


The amount of solar energy falling on the world's hot deserts is nearly 1000 times the entire current energy consumption of the world. Only relatively small areas of desert would be needed to meet current demands.

There is further information and links to other sources at www.trec-uk.org.uk/.
Comment 17 of 18
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March 25, 2007
Find the latest statistics on the use of renewable energy in europe on: http://www.energy.eu
Comment 18 of 18
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