The Race Between Two Forms of Sunlight

clipped from dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com There is a race afoot between two energy sources that are, in essence, different forms of concentrated sunlight Coal, of course, is one, forged from the baked, compressed remains of ancient plant life. And newcomer, capturing the heat of the sun with arrays of mirrors and turning it into electricity. estimates that China’s explosively growing use of coal for electric power had vaulted it past the United States into world leadership in emissions of carbon dioxide. so-called solar thermal power plants are steadily improving, in part because of new techniques for storing solar energy as heat so that electricity can be generated when it is needed most concentrated solar power — can be found in a nice, and enthusiastic, overview of the technology the Army’s Schofield Barracks on Oahu, where more than 5,300 homes are being built with solar hot water systems and photovoltaic panels When the project is done, it will be the world’s largest solar community