The following is article found on another newgroup.

I have one question: would the heated air accelerate as it rises through the
tower due to it's expansion being restrained?

JPG



http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...776058432.html

EnviroMission to move on solar power station

By Philip Hopkins
February 4, 2004

A pre-feasibility study has shown that a giant solar power station
planned for Australia is financially and technically viable, according
to the companies behind the project.

EnviroMission, which has the rights to the solar technology, and
leading construction company Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd, said
yesterday that with the pre-feasibility study completed, the project
would move towards full commercial development.

EnviroMission chief executive Roger Davey said an independent third
party would now undertake a detailed examination of the financial
structuring of the project. An announcement would be made in the near
future, said Mr Davey, a former broker at McIntosh Securities before
it was taken over by Merrill Lynch.

EnviroMission, which listed in August 2001, aims to build a one-
kilometre-high solar tower power station 25 kilometres north of
Mildura in NSW. It would generate 200 megawatts of electricity, enough
to power 200,000 households. The tower would include a surrounding
"greenhouse skirt" of solar collector panels, seven kilometres wide.

The electricity would be generated by 32 wind turbines driven by the
mass of moving air under the huge transparent collector and the
updraft effect created by the huge tower.

Estimates have placed the cost of the tower project from $800 million
to $1 billion. EnviroMission has signed a memorandum of understanding
with Australian Gas Light Company for AGL to take all the station's
electricity.

Mr Davey said the solar tower would earn money from energy generation,
associated derivatives such as renewable energy certificates and
carbon credits, and from naming rights for the tower.

The pre-feasibility study did not include income from tourism,
agribusiness or telecommunications, he said. The tower would have a
visitor's centre and viewing platform, and horticulture could be
undertaken under the edge of the giant collector.

EnviroMission shares finished unchanged yesterday at 18¢.
***

For an artist's impression
http://www.enviromission.com.au/images/17-seconds.jpg

Wired article
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,46814,00.html