Interest in a 19th-century technology, solar thermal energy, is rising. Solar thermal technology uses mirrors to create heat and steam to power turbines to produce electricity. A Silicon Valley company says it can provide all of the electricity needs of the U.S., including a switch to electric cars feeding off the grid. If the energy storage challenge is met “within 18 months […] we will not only reduce [the] cost of [solar-thermal] electricity but also satisfy the requirements for a modern society”. The company insists it can do this at a cost of just 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, analogous to the price of electricity from burning natural gas in California if a cost was imposed for the emission of carbon dioxide.
Sunshine can provide all U.S. electricity through solar-thermal energy
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