The Dish: Sampling Science and Technology News – Feb. 22, 2008
Good news for large-scale solar power generation arrived yesterday with bad news for photovoltaic technology. Abengoa Solar, a subsidiary of Spanish multinational Abengoa S.A., is now planning to build the world’s largest solar power plant in Arizona. The plant, dubbed “Solana,” will be built 70 miles southwest of Phoenix by 2011. The company will sell the electricity to Arizona Public Service Co. “This is a major milestone for Arizona in our efforts to increase the amount of renewable energy available in the United States,” said Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. Meanwhile, Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California, Berkeley’s California Energy Institute, has argued (subscription) in a financial analysis paper (.pdf with abstract) that solar power generated by current solar photovoltaic technology is too expensive to justify it use. “Solar photovoltaic is a very exciting technology, but the current technology is not economic,” Borenstein said. He lamented: “We are throwing money away by installing the current solar PV technology, which is a loser.”
Who should be the next President’s science adviser? Scientists could help decide the fate of the position and the 50 or so science-and technology-related vacancies opening up when the new administration takes power in January. Speaking at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, policy experts told scientists to organize and weigh in with a list of recommendations for the positions. They should also lobby for the restoration of a science advisor who reports directly to the President, a position removed during the Bush administration, reported Science.
Google has teamed up with the Cleveland Clinic to store patient’s medical records online. The pilot program has raised alarms among privacy watchdogs who are concerned the search engine giant will exploit the information for marketing purposes. The program, which has yet to specify a start date, will begin with 1,500 to 10,000 volunteer patients.
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