Solar Tower

This article is about a particular design of solar chimney. For the astronomical instrument and other uses of the term, see solar tower.

The Solar Tower is a brand of renewable-energy power plant based on the solar chimney concept. Air, passing under a very large agricultural glass house (between 2 and 36 kilometres in diameter), is heated by the sun and travels upwards towards a convection tower where it rises naturally, thereby driving wind turbines, which generate electricity. The resulting electricity may be used to generate hydrogen fuel and other forms of appropriate and renewable, sustainable energy. The Solar Tower could be built almost entirely from recycled materials.

Intellectual property concerns

Enviromission Ltd Australia have made claims to ownership and exclusive rights to Solar Tower technology, and considerable controversy surrounds these claims to geophysical territorial rights.

H. Alfred Goolsbee owns the Japanese trademark and service mark "Solar Tower" and retains certain rights to the use of the words "Solar Tower" in the United States as well.

Development

Enviromission is planning to build a Solar Tower in Wentworth Shire, New South Wales, Australia. If built, it will become the tallest structure in the world, with a height of one kilometre. Enviromission is also working with Sunshine Energy (Aust.) Pty Ltd. who have made an initial USD$8,000,000 investment to enable development of this technology in China.

Recent negotiations to build cooperatively owned and operated Solar Towers are underway with organizations such as ECOSOUL, a not-for-profit company, who have been promoting a sustainable hydrogen economy for over 40 years collectively. Patented Reversible Fuel Cells are under consideration for use as primary components in fullscale versions of solar towers.

A meeting at NASA to further exploration of opportunities in Solar Tower implementation was called by H. Alfred Goolsbee, founder of the Solar Tower OpenSource Energy Project, and was held at NASA Ames Research Park in June 2003. Professor Daniel M. Kammen of the RAEL at the University of Berkeley was in attendance.

External links

• Environmission Int'l EarthNews Online.
• Solar Chimney.
• EnviroMission Ltd. of Australia Website.
• Wentworth Shire, NSW – Proposed Site.