Captain Planet would be proud.
Dubai is working to move towards renewable energies with a massive solar power plant entering its fourth phase of construction.
Due to the extreme sun in this region, solar power is an efficient and readily available way to reduce the carbon footprint that greenhouse gases create. This new type of solar technology is an incredible use of the sun’s energy, and also utilizes some surprisingly old-school tech. The panels lining the desert are actually reflecting the sunlight towards a central point in order to create heat. The light directed to the tower in turn generates steam to move turbines that produce electricity. The central tower that each panel is aimed towards captures the energy from the massive field of panels, so the more panels, the larger the tower. This is called a concentrated solar power tower. This new one in Dubai will be the world’s largest solar tower when completed.
This technology is also capable of working through the night, producing energy from sunlight even when the sun is down. The overall size of the plant will be massive, and is planned to generate enough energy to power over a million homes. The project is part of an initiative Dubai is undertaking to reduce their use of fossil fuels for their energy. The economics of utilizing free, renewable resources to power a city make sense, and generating energy in the desert can be difficult but sunlight is almost constantly readily available. The huge undertaking also comes with a huge price tag. The cost is estimated at 13.6 billion dollars, and is not planned to wrap up until around 2030.
