Here's another alternative energy solution (Environmission's Solar Tower (Australia) Project) that I regard as an engineering masterpiece - but man if you think windmills are an eyesore, get a load of this puppy. I've done quite a bit of reading on this project and boy does it sound like a low-tech, high concept solution to 200MW of power provision, but I just find it hard to believe that people wouldn't complain about it, or wouldn't prefer a small nuclear plant in it's stead.
I've even found a rival design that isn't even being commercialized yet called Wind From The Sun which eliinates the sky-high tower of the Australian design - would they consider it? Given that it is even lower tech and higher concept and all the money they've spent on designing their fncy funnel (not to mention the personal attachment that comes along with engineering such a thing), probably not.
The one in SoCal is a little different. It uses an array of reflective mirrors to parabolically focus sunlight onto a receiver atop a tower. The concentrated light energy produces over 1000 degrees Fahrenheight at the receiver and is used to rapidly boil water which drives a turbine to generate energy. It's a significantly smaller arrangement however which only delivers a small amount of energy. The EnviroMission tower is gargantuan and is able to deliver power equivalent to that of a mid-sized nuclear plant.
They produced a much smaller version of it in Spain which was used for R&D, proof of concept. Doesn't put out much power, but is loaded with thousands of sensor devices for monitorint air currents and temperature. The premise is, of course, to use the greenhouse effect below the canopy to heat the air within and funnel it upwards creating a massive updraft that can then be harnessed by wind turbines. It's a clever idea that would work well in desert regions or in places like Mars..
It's not my fault. I'm mentally ill. That's the argument a woman is using to sue American Express for two (M) million dollars after she ran up nearly one (M) million dollar in charges and couldn't pay the bill.
Prosecutors say the woman - 40-year-old Antoinette Millard - posed as a Saudi princess to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. She is now suing America Express saying she was mentally incompetent when she opened her account and the company should have known it.
11-27-2004 09:24 AM
