A Visit to the Mad Scientist's Death Ray
Jul. 4th, 2021 08:08 pmWe had time on our hands this morning, so after a long leisurely breakfast in our hotel room, we set off to have a look at the Mad Scientist's Death Ray Crescent Dunes solar thermal power plant, which as I mentioned a couple of days ago is once again generating power in spectacular fashion.
( O Blinding Light )
At this time, solar-thermal plants like this cost more up front and, as I mentioned, have technical challenges. But they can be built with domestic materials (steel and glass and concrete) and are not dominated by countries that have bottled up all of the rare earths. They're not a panacea for energy problems, but we think they have a promising future. I'm glad to see that this plant is working again. The solutions developed here can be used to build more and better such plants in the future.
( O Blinding Light )
At this time, solar-thermal plants like this cost more up front and, as I mentioned, have technical challenges. But they can be built with domestic materials (steel and glass and concrete) and are not dominated by countries that have bottled up all of the rare earths. They're not a panacea for energy problems, but we think they have a promising future. I'm glad to see that this plant is working again. The solutions developed here can be used to build more and better such plants in the future.