SES and Tessera Solar launched the 1.5 MW Maricopa Solar power plant in Peoria, Arizona, in late January. The facility features 60 SunCatchers. The technology was developed in the US through a public-private partnership with DOE. See the press release from Tessera Solar (PDF 303 KB).
For the proposed Solar Two facility, the draft EIS found no significant environmental impacts, other than a significant and unavoidable visual impact. However, SES will have to undertake special measures to protect the desert species, including the flat-tailed horned lizard, which has been proposed for threatened species listing.
The CEC is accepting comments on the EIS until May 13, while the BLM will accept comments until 90 days after the U.S. EPA publishes its notice in the Federal Register. The BLM published its notice on February 22. See the CEC press release, pages ES-15 through ES-18 (PDF pages 21-24) of the draft EIS (PDF 7 MB), and the BLM notice in the Federal Register (PDF 49 KB).
While dish/Stirling systems have been slow to take hold, parabolic trough systems, which use trough-shaped mirrors, have been operating in California since the 1980s, and many more are planned for the state. For example, NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of the FPL Group, signed a contract in October 2009 to sell 250 MW of solar thermal power from its proposed Genesis Solar Energy Project in Riverside County to PG&E. The proposed Genesis site, featuring more than 500,000 parabolic troughs, is one of 14 solar projects identified by the BLM for fast-track consideration to receive permits by the end of 2010. The company intends to break ground in late 2010, with operations beginning about 30 months later. See the press releases from the FPL Group and the BLM.
NextEra Energy Resources also applied to the CEC for permits to build its proposed 250 MW Beacon Solar Project, another parabolic trough facility, to be located in eastern Kern County. In November 2009, the CEC started its year-long review of three other proposed parabolic trough plants: the 484 MW Palen project near Palen Dry Lake in Riverside County; the 968 MW Blythe project near Blythe in Riverside County; and the 250 MW Ridgecrest project in the high northern Mojave Desert in northeastern Kern County. When such projects involve the use of federal lands, the CEC works closely with BLM on their permit reviews. See the CEC press release and the CEC's full list of proposed power projects.
Biofuel Options Expand as Science Taps New Sources
Scientists are making progress in developing biofuels with a range of methods and an assortment of feedstocks. Among the promising clean energy alternatives is an algae photo-bioreactor that grows algae in municipal wastewater to produce biofuel.
Developed by the NASA, the bioreactor consists of large plastic bags made from a permeable "forward osmosis" membrane. The bags hold the algae and waste nutrients in place while allowing cleansed water to pass through. The bags could potentially be deployed in contaminated and "dead zone" coastal areas, removing excess nutrients while growing algae for biofuels. NASA's Ames Research Center licensed the patent-pending photo-bioreactor to Algae Systems, LCC, which plans to develop and pilot the technology in Tampa Bay, Florida. The company hopes to integrate the technology into biorefineries to produce renewable energy products, including diesel and jet fuel. See the
NASA press release.
