THE SOLUTION IN THE MIRROR

100 Miles of Mirrors; A simple, feasible plan for averting global climatic disaster.
Alex Carlin, December 1, 2009 (In These Times)

"As world leaders and delegations prepare to meet in Copenhagen for the two-week UN Climate Change conference beginning Monday, it’s worth asking two basic questions: How bad is global warming? And is the world on track to fix it?

"To answer the first question: it’s more than just bad. It’s bleak. According to James Hansen, NASA’s top climate scientist, we must stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2030…[I]s the world on track to alter this trajectory? No. But a straightforward, actionable plan to replace coal by 2030 does exist: 100 Miles of Mirrors."

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"By building 100 miles by 100 miles of solar thermal power in each of the planet’s key coal-burning economies—the U.S., Europe, China and India—we can replace coal-burning enough to give our coastal cities a chance to survive…Sunlight, reflected by rows of mirrors, concentrates heat onto tubes of water or oil. The resulting steam powers traditional electricity-generating turbines. Molten salt stores the excess heat, which is used at night or when the sun is obscured, allowing full power generation around the clock.

"These desert solar plants would do everything a coal-burning plant does—but without the harmful byproducts that are overheating our planet. And…the facilities can be built out in two to four years…[T]he entire U.S. electric grid could be powered by an area measuring 100 by 100 miles (or 10,000 square miles)—space readily available in the uninhabited desert of the southwest…[B]oth India and the western desert of China…[and] the Sahara desert could [also] generate and transmit enough power…"

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"Financing this is feasible. A conservative estimate…puts the cost at $4.5 trillion, or $225 billion per year for 20 years…[Cutting] fossil fuels during that same 20-year period…[saves] $75 billion per year...[T]he overall price tag [is] $3 trillion, a cost comparable to the total price of the Iraq War…one-third of the defense department’s projected budget…less than half the bill for the current Wall Street bailout…

"…Moreover, private investors and businesses would likely finance a large portion…And once built, maintenance and operation costs would remain low because mining solar power is free. Forever… “100 Miles of Mirrors” can power this planet, replace coal by 2030, and save our cities. Other renewables and efficiency measures will surely contribute as well, but the time has arrived to focus on a plan that gets us off coal before …[we] lose New York and Miami…"