Saudi battles heat, dust to build solar power, save oil [View all]

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=508171&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Saudi battles heat, dust to build solar power, save oil[/font]

Reuters/Riyadh/Dammam

[font size=3]Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, may finally be getting serious about overcoming the technical and financial hurdles for tapping its other main resource: sunshine.

Thousands of solar power panels have sprung up across Europe over the past few years, thanks to generous subsidies that make the technology an attractive alternative to conventional energy.

Saudi Arabia too, wants to generate much more solar power as it lacks coal or enough natural gas output to meet rapidly rising power demand.

…

This month, KA-CARE set forth a much more ambitious plan, recommending that the kingdom aim to get more than a third of its peak-load power supply, or about 41 gigawatts (GW), from the sun within two decades at an estimated cost well over $100bn.

…[/font][/font]