Breakthrough in concentrated solar energy

[LateToCult 41,845]

Heliogen, the clean energy company that is transforming sunlight to create and replace fuels, today announced its launch and that it has – for the first time commercially – concentrated solar energy to exceed temperatures greater than 1,000 degrees Celsius. At that temperature, Heliogen can replace the use of fossil fuels in critical industrial processes, including the production of cement, steel, and petrochemicals, dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from these activities. This singular scientific achievement was accomplished at Heliogen’s commercial facility in Lancaster, California.

Heliogen’s mission is to create the world’s first technology that can commercially replace fossil fuels with carbon-free, ultra-high temperature heat from the sun and to transform sunlight into fuels at scale – taking a major step towards solving climate change. Its heat technology represents a key technical breakthrough for concentrated solar thermal. Previous commercial concentrating solar thermal systems have been designed to reach temperatures of up to only 565 degrees Celsius – useful for power generation, but insufficient for many industrial processes. Many of these processes require much higher temperatures, which have traditionally been reached through the burning of fossil fuels.

The potential impact of Heliogen’s patented technology is massive. With temperatures from its concentrating solar thermal technology exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius, Heliogen will be able to replace the fuel that generates greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes with solar energy for the first time. For instance, cement production – one of the industrial processes well suited to Heliogen’s technology – alone accounts for more than 7 percent of global CO2 emissions.

In addition to industrial process heat, Heliogen’s technology roadmap calls for temperatures up to 1,500 degrees Celsius. At that temperature, Heliogen can perform CO2-splitting and water-splitting to make 100 percent fossil-free fuels such as hydrogen or syngas.

Heliogen is able to achieve these breakthrough temperatures as a result of its technology that uniquely uses advanced computer vision software to hyper-accurately align a large array of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a single target. The firm’s founder and chief executive officer is Bill Gross, a lifelong entrepreneur and founder of Idealab. The Heliogen team includes scientists and engineers from Caltech, MIT, and other leading institutions and is based in Pasadena, California.

full story: https://www.google.com/amp/s/finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/heliogen-achieves-breakthrough-temperatures-concentrated-080100611.html

[Economy 52,847]

Well this is a good step forward!

 

hopefully it doesnt get killed by politics like the way Bill Gates clean Nuclear development

[Emvee 8,829]

These are the kind of companies we should be subsidizing to promote innovation. 

[Morphine Prince 109,655]

28 minutes ago, Postboy said:

These are the kind of companies we should be subsidizing to promote innovation. 

But we have to be realistic and keep the Koch brothers happy. Don't go too far left now!

[Goodtimes12128 230]

I'm curious if they need more or less solar panels to get this result. This commercial facility is within critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise. It would be cool if less panels are needed in the future so there isn't loss of habitat.

[Emvee 8,829]

Just now, Morphine Prince said:

But we have to be realistic and keep the Koch brothers happy. Don't go too far left now!

Ya know... progressives may sound like broken records and conspiracy theorists when we talk about the establishment media and corporate politicians, but the proof is all there. 
 

Something as innocuous as subsidies for clean energy, which the govt does for fossil fuels anyway, is successfully painted as radical to the point where the conversation is always about how we have to “worry about going too far left.” It’s so disingenuous. And then people wonder why there’s so much cynicism around Obama and the Clintons... around centrists candidates like Biden and Buttigieg or on-the-fence candidates like Warren. It’s because people have had enough! 
 

and for the record, Bernie and AOC are not absolved of any criticism either. Progressives are always on the watch and are not afraid to criticize them. The difference is that they are consistent. 

[Economy 52,847]

On 11/19/2019 at 5:45 PM, Postboy said:

Ya know... progressives may sound like broken records and conspiracy theorists when we talk about the establishment media and corporate politicians, but the proof is all there. 
 

Something as innocuous as subsidies for clean energy, which the govt does for fossil fuels anyway, is successfully painted as radical to the point where the conversation is always about how we have to “worry about going too far left.” It’s so disingenuous. And then people wonder why there’s so much cynicism around Obama and the Clintons... around centrists candidates like Biden and Buttigieg or on-the-fence candidates like Warren. It’s because people have had enough! 
 

and for the record, Bernie and AOC are not absolved of any criticism either. Progressives are always on the watch and are not afraid to criticize them. The difference is that they are consistent. 

The US subsidizes fossil fuels?

 

Here they pay a carbon tax lol