Eduardo Zarza is Director of Concentrating Solar Research at the Solar Platform in Almeria, Spain. PSA (as it is known in Spain) is a world reference centre for solar power generation, visited by political and scientific delegations from countries desiring to establish large-scale electrical generating plants powered by the sun...Read More

The sun has long fascinated scientists. It’s immense power keeps the globe alive and as long as there is a planet earth there will be solar energy.

It’s permanence would therefore seem to make solar energy an ideal source of power in the midst of the ongoing energy crisis. However, converting the sun’s heat into useable energy – specifically electricity – has so far only proved possible on a small scale, via solar panels and related technologies.

This month Comment Visions meets a man who believes that a relatively new technology called solar concentration could provide an alternative to fossil fuels. Indeed, not just an alternative to fossil fuels; solar concentration - correctly applied - could provide 100% of the planet’s energy needs in the future, he argues.

Dr Eduardo Zarza Moya has been studying solar energy for more than 20 years and in this interview he delineates the technology involved in solar concentration and its potential. Using large scale mirrors to harness solar radiation in order to produce steam, which then drives electricity turbines, solar concentration is a clean process reliant on the sort of solar radiation apparent in the hottest parts of the planet. Dr Moya is currently involved in a project to build a solar energy plant in North Africa and while he admits transmitting the electricity produced is currently prohibitively expensive he remains positive about the future.

100% of the world’s energy needs from solar plants that cover just 1% of the world’s desert is the headline grabbing statistic, but Dr Moya admits that these are early days for the technology and that it is ‘a baby’. Given a time frame of 50 years and the relevant investment and political backing solar concentration could prove a real and viable energy solution, as he details in this fascinating interview.

Monday: 05:15, 07:45, 15:45
Tuesday: 22:45*, 03:15
Wednesday: 11:15, 14:15, 18:45
Thursday: 05:15, 15:15, 17:45, 19:45
Friday: 11:45, 17:15, 04:15
Saturday: 09:15, 15:45, 18:45
Sunday: 09:15, 13:45, 23:15

*Starts Tuesday 22:45, all times CET.

Only broadcast in the first week of each month.