Solar Updraft Towers To Be Deployed In Namibia For Energy And Food

September 11, 2008
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Solar Updraft Towers

In a future with no need for fossil fuels and with the need of renewable energies, solar power seems to be the best option available on the market. In order to be efficient and cost-effective, the sun has to shine all day long and the perfect place for that is the African continent. The latest project consists of solar updraft towers which will be built in Namibia and each tower could generate about 400 megawatts of power.

The gigantic solar towers were only “proposed” by Hahn & Hahn and each will be 1.5km tall and 280m wide, and the towers will be welcomed in Africa as at the base of them, people could grow crops. The base will measure about 37-square km and it will work as a greenhouse.

Solar Updraft Towers

“One of the main reasons why commercial solar chimney power plants have not been built that they have to be very large to be economically viable,” said Theo von Backströmn from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Well, as in Namibia the sun shines more than 300 days per year, the solar towers seem to be a great solution. The towers will produce energy by sending the heated air from the greenhouse through wind turbines which will also generate electricity. Being shaped like a chimney, funneling the heated air via the wind turbines will not be a problem as the hot air tends to rise.

Solar Updraft Towers

For the moment, we don’t know when the construction will start or when it’s going to be finished, however, we don’t even know if the Namibian government can raise so much money to build and to maintain the solar updraft towers.

Hahn & Hahn

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11 Responses to “Solar Updraft Towers To Be Deployed In Namibia For Energy And Food”

  1. sceptical says:

    1.5km tall. I suppose pig’s can fly too!!! But then again, they do not have much of a defense force to help with a secondary income, this project may just be the next best thing for a few backhanded payouts. Somebody is selling a white elephant, or as Barack Obama puts it, a pig with lipstick is still a pig

  2. ash says:

    this looks photoshopped as hell. is this bootleg?

  3. stochastic says:

    It’s obviously CGI… did you read the post? These are essentially conceptual drawings, not real structures. As for 1.5 km tall, that’s not too hard. It’s not a skyscraper, just a thin shell. I’m more interested in whether or not this could be combined with other green energies, such as coating the sides with photovoltaics, or placing more traditional windmills on top.

  4. Smartos says:

    Well, I guess this is another step the Hell… Joking :) This is great stuff indeed!

  5. abhinav says:

    hey it sounds sense
    being a civil engg. i guess it cud b constructed
    plz send me any further details related to yhis

  6. enthuse says:

    I’ve watched this idea ever since the first small one was built in Spain. Obviously the tower is a major expense so why not build it as an inflatable structure up a steep desert mountain side? Less efficient but muuuuuch cheaper.

  7. . says:

    shopped

  8. Joe says:

    “Shopped” yeah more like Paint. Nay old school copy and past. You know with scissors and glue.

  9. Brainjack says:

    Of course its photoshopped. It’s a concept. More importantly though, is it even viable? Who pays for it. and who even needs energy locally.

    The real problem with energy is storing it. Anyone can create it.

  10. einstein says:

    “anyone can create it.” yeah right. the first person who is able to “create” energy should get a nobel prize.

  11. Wyldearts.com says:

    Ignorance! Brain Jack is right.