PS10 (Planta Solar 10) is a highly innovative new power station prototype which is being trialled near Seville in Southern Spain.

The futuristic-looking tower that is surrounded by over 600 giant mirrors is able to convert solar energy to geothermal energy, which in turn drives electrical turbines to produce electricity. The Beeb has a video tour of the tower which is well worth a look.

According to the developers, the station is currently able to produce 11 Megawatts of power without ANY greenhouse emissions.

Impressive but not totally accurate; the turbines are steam driven after all and water vapour IS a greenhouse gas (albeit less of a problem than Carbon Dioxide). In fact ANY gas which has 2 or more atoms in its molecule is a greenhouse gas by definition. That said, it would be fair to say that greenhouse gas emissions were certainly minimal.

The initial setup costs are about 3 times the cost of a conventional station, but as with all new designs the cost is likely to reduce fairly rapidly in time, as demand for carbon-neutral energy production increases.

Anyway – check it out!

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