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'Solar collaboration better than war' - Dr Gerry Wolff, TREC-UK

Sir,
J. Blair, in his letter of 15 March 2007, Middle-East oil for North African sun?, totally misunderstands the nature of concentrating solar power (CSP). This method of creating electricity from sunshine is quite different from the better-known photovoltaics (PV).

It is the remarkably simple but effective technique of using mirrors to concentrate sunlight to create heat and then using the heat to raise steam to drive turbines and generators, just like a conventional power station. Because it does not use the relatively expensive PV panels, it is the most cost-effective way of generating solar electricity in hot deserts and other areas where there is lots of direct sunshine. 

Another advantage is that it is possible to store solar heat in melted salts so that electricity generation may continue at night and on cloudy days. It is absurd to suggest that Europe should not buy solar electricity from North Africa. A collaboration among European countries, the Middle East and North Africa to develop CSP would offer substantial benefits for all concerned. Everyone would benefit from plentiful supplies of carbon-free electricity, and jobs and earnings in a large new industry. 

In addition, there is potential for desalination of sea water using the waste heat from power generation, and the shaded areas under the solar mirrors - protected from the harshness of direct tropical sunlight - can be used for many purposes, including horticulture using desalinated sea water. A win-win collaboration like that is a good way to develop improved relations and good understandings between different groups of people - a much better option than the confrontational policies of Bush and Blair. 

And it is complete nonsense to say that electricity transmission would be too expensive or impractical. With highly-efficient 'HVDC' transmission lines, power losses are only around 3% per 1000 km. The TRANS-CSP report commissioned by the German government calculates that CSP electricity could become one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, "including the cost of transmission". There are other good reasons for building large-scale HVDC transmission grids: wind power is much less variable across a wide area like Europe than it is in any one spot; and a large-scale grid allows electricity to be transmitted from anywhere that has a surplus to areas where it is needed, thus avoiding the large amounts of wastage that would otherwise occur. 

For these kinds of reasons, the wind energy company Airtricity has proposed a Europe-wide grid of HVDC power lines composed entirely of submarine cables. And there would be little or no visual intrusion because all the cables would be under the sea! 
Dr Gerry Wolff 
TREC-UK  Coordinator
Menai Bridge
Anglesey, UK

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