Power from the Sunbaked Desert

摘要

BEFORE PRESIDENT George W.Bush signed the federal energy bill into law on Aug.8,he got a firsthand glimpse of a technology that could transform the deserts of the Southwest.Instead of a sandy wasteland,there would be gleaming farms with thousands of giant dish-shaped mirrors measuring 37 feet in diameter.Each dish would track the sun and focus its heat rays on an oil-barrel-size contraption suspended out in front,harnessing the heat to drive a 25-kilo-watt generator.