[Comment] Solar, not nuclear
DR GERRY WOLFF
16.05.2007 @ 17:39 CET
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - Regarding your report "Nuclear energy fuels hot debate among MEPs" there is absolutely no need for nuclear power in in Europe because there is a simple mature technology that can deliver huge amounts of clean energy without any of the headaches of nuclear power.
Solar energy currently provides power for about 100,000 Californian homes (Photo: TREC-UK)
I refer to 'concentrating solar power' (CSP), the technique of concentrating sunlight using mirrors to create heat, and then using the heat to raise steam and drive turbines and generators, just like a conventional power station.
It is possible to store solar heat in melted salts so that electricity generation may continue through the night or on cloudy days.
This technology has been generating electricity successfully in California since 1985 and currently provides power for about 100,000 Californian homes. CSP plants are now being planned or built in many parts of the world.
Cutting CO2 emissions
CSP works best in hot deserts and, of course, there are not many of these in Europe! But it is feasible and economic to transmit solar electricity over very long distances using highly-efficient 'HVDC' transmission lines.
With transmission losses at about 3% per 1000 km, solar electricity may, for example, be transmitted from North Africa to London with only about 10% loss of power.
A large-scale HVDC transmission grid has also been proposed by the wind energy company Airtricity as a means of optimising the use of wind power throughout Europe.
In the recent 'TRANS-CSP' report commissioned by the German government, it is estimated that CSP electricity, imported from North Africa and the Middle East, could become one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, including the cost of transmission.
That report shows in great detail how Europe can meet all its needs for electricity, make deep cuts in CO2 emissions, and phase out nuclear power at the same time.
The author is UK coordinator of Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC)