[escepticos] Torre generadora

["J.S." <j.susaeta@...>]

Hola...

 En la edición 'on line' del 'Guardian' he visto un proyecto faraónico que
van a emprender los australianos. La cosa parece ir en serio, porque la ha
aprobado el gobierno central, que no parece poco, y está pendiente de la
decisión del gobierno regional competente.

 En el artículo recuerdan la pequeña planta piloto que funcionó durante años
en España, y que -si no recuerdo mal- se clausuró tras unos daños causados
por una tormenta. Supongo que ya habría cumplido ya su misión. Y supongo que
el veredicto sería negativo, porque no he visto más torres, y en cambio cada
día se ven más aerogeneradores, incluso ya se empiezan a plantear quejas por
el ruido, por la estética... Hoy mismo he estado viendo unos -bueno, eran un
montón, unos cuarenta- al Oeste de Madrid, en una zona poco habitada que
creo que se llama 'Sierra de la Paramera'. Tampoco quedaban mal...

 Parece que el proyecto este va en serio, a juzgar por lo que dice el
periódico. Vaya una construcción faraónica: 1000 m de altura y 150 de
diámetro. 200MW de potencia... ¿Tendrá ésto futuro? Hay voces críticas,
citadas al final del artículo, que ponen en duda su rentabilidad relativa.

 ¿Opiniones?

Saludos

Javier

P.D.: Partes del artículo, a continuación.



> Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Real power from nothing but hot air


>
> Australia plans 1km-high convection tower to supply 200,000 houses
>
> David Fickling in Sydney
> Monday August 19, 2002
> The Guardian
>
> A one kilometre-high tower capable of producing enough energy for 200,000
> homes has been approved by the Australian government and could be in
> operation within three years, subject to approval by the New South Wales
> state authorities.
> In effect a giant chimney, it will generate electricity by drawing warm
air
> from ground level through turbines. (...)
> (...)
> It will be surrounded by a circular greenhouse 7km -nearly four-and-a-half
> miles - in diameter in which warm air will collect and rise towards 32
> turbines at its base.
> (...)
> The tower itself will be 130 metres wide (...)
> Work is expected to begin next year and the first electricity should be
> generated in 2005. (...)
> On Thursday the federal industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, put the A$800m
> (£308m) project into a fast-track planning process. It now needs
> environmental approval from the state government.
> (...)
> A 180m prototype tower built by a Spanish-German team in the 1980s managed
> to generate 50kW of energy before it was closed down in 1989.
EnviroMission
> believes the bigger version will produce up to 200MW.
> That amount of electricity from fossil fuels would produce 700,000 tonnes
of
> carbon dioxide a year.
> Australia's vast open spaces and abundance of sun and wind make it ideal
for
> renewable energy (...)
> None the less, Australia generates about 10% of its energy from renewable
> sources and eco-friendly power stations such as the 14-windmill windfarm
at
> Codrington, on the Victoria coast, which has become a popular tourist
> attraction.
> (...) But Cham Nayar,
> director of the centre for renewable energy and sustainable technologies
at
> Curtin University in Perth, said existing sources were likely to be more
> reliable.
> "These things have to be cost-effective. The technology may work, but
> compared to a conventional wind farm this is an expensive way of
generating
> electricity."
> Wentworth residents are more positive. "It would be good for the tourism
> here (...)