Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Tech Article 10/6



Hot Air for fuel in the future
For centuries, architects have taken advantage of rising heat to help cool some structures. Solar chimneys allow the rising air to go out of the building, taking the heat with it. Today, Australian entrepreneur Roger Davey wants to take advantage of that phenomenon. He wants to create, capture and control hot air to help power cities. He plans to build a huge solar updraft tower, 2,600 feet tall, in the Arizona desert. As the hot air moves into the tower, it would turn 32 turbines, spinning them fast enough to create mechanical energy, which generators convert to electricity.His company, EnviroMission, says such a tower can create up to 200 megawatts of power, enough to power 100,000 homes. He says they don't intend to put coal or nuclear or alternative power out of business, but want to be a strong, no-carbon source.

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