THE HEAT IS ON

摘要

Plenty of days, temperatures in California's Mojave Desert climb above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. A measly figure. These 400 silvered glass panels, tucked into the western edge of that hot, hot desert, are there to generate heat 15 times that amount. And, ideally, to help cool the planet too. Assembled by the Pasadena-based company Helio-gen, each 16-square-foot freckle, a heliostat, reflects a kilowatt of sunlight to the top of a five-story tower, where it's absorbed by a silicon carbide receiver. As the little black plate glows white, it exceeds 1,800 degrees. That's hot enough to begin manufacturing cement and other industrial products—processes that typically rely on burning fossil fuels—and to potentially cut up to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.