James May and the Solar Tower

[YouTube - Link]

Some of you Neatoramanauts out there seemed to have been tickled pink by the idea of melting steel with the Sun's rays. So, I thought it would be a great idea to show you another clip and this one is just as tantalizingly enjoyable to watch. Well, you can all thank Dale from the comments for pointing out to me this clip. So Dale...thank you. :)

What you see here is James May visiting the very first third working Solar Tower (of Doom!) based in southern Spain. The idea behind this structure is to use numerous mirrors to direct the Sun's rays into a specific point on the tower where pipes filled with water are heated and converted into steam thus generating a source of power. This system of generating power can be called Solar Thermal Energy production.

It's a highly intelligent and efficient form of producing renewable energy and it doesn't have - from what I understand - any environmental repercussions. It apparently works so well that the Spanish Government has decided to build a few more. I wonder what it would take to convince some of the nations in the Equatorial regions to build some of these types of structures and become suppliers of energy. It could provide jobs and bring in essential foreign investments thus boosting their economies.

*Update - Thanks for the heads up in the comments for the mistake. Indeed it is the THIRD solar tower project! ;)