Solar Chimney

This is cool. How about a solar chimney that's 2x the size of the Empire State building that can generate 200 megawatts of electricity? It's a Solar Chimney, and it powers a turbine by funnelling hot air up a huge column.

Word on the street is that it's under construction (though, a bit scaled down? Apparently, they CAN be built small). Don't miss the cool video. But there already is one that has been built. That's a link to a picture. This guy has a cool blog devoted entirely to solar energy. Search for "chimney" there and you'll see ones are planned for Spain and China, too (the latter of which surprises me, as China doesn't have a lot of space-- or do they?).

Apparently, they could even grow food underneath the large glass-enclosed collection area. Palm trees? Orange groves?

This concept led me to find out a lot of information about other alternative energy ideas that are shaping up.