I wrote:
My extrapolation comparing with biomass:
Solar tower, ~250 km^2/GW
That was a cross-check. Extrapolating from the Australian solar tower, it would be 500 km^2/GW.
It turns out they are planning to make a gigantic greenhouse under the glass skirt. The land would not be wasted. See:
http://www.wentworth.nsw.gov.au/solartower/
If that works out, perhaps I should retract my complaint about land use, since elsewhere I have advocated the use of giant greenhouses for agriculture. However, I had in mind smaller, fully enclosed automatic food factories, not conventional glass greenhouses. (See Chapter 16.) Greenhouses have problems with bacteria, vermin and crowding, because they are not fully isolated from the environment.
- Jed
