Centralized Solar Power Plants Threaten Environment in the West
The most obvious place to put solar power plants is in the deserts of the Western U.S. Problem is, the desert environment is fragile and any projects that use large amounts of water, such as concentrating solar power, are not much better for the environment than the coal plants already there.
The endangered desert pupfish in southern Nevada is the latest obstacle to the dream of filling the West with large solar power plants, says an article in today’s Wall St. Journal. Any project that uses water, such as is required for cooling concentrating solar power plants, is a non-starter in the dry desert Southwest. And the construction required for large PV power plants is likely also to damage desert ecosystems beyond repair. If you fly over the Mojave Desert, you can still see wagon tracks from 150 years ago. We should be focusing instead on decentralized solar power (rooftops) and conservation before we commit hundreds of billions to desert power plants. Alternatively, something I’ve advocated for years, is to use the Navy’s bombing ranges in southeast California for PV power plants, since there’s no longer any endangered species after 50 years of dumping bombs there. There’s more than enough land there to power the entire Southwest. (Of course, there is the issue of unexploded ordnance!)
Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/16/2009 at 05:32 AM
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