World Rivers Review, Vol. 23, No. 1 - March 2008

Here Comes the Sun

Dish Stirling solar power systems concentrate the sun’s heat to run a Stirling engine, which drives an electric generator. This highly efficient system can also run on alternative fuels, so power can be made day or night.

The cover story of the March 2008 World Rivers Review focuses on concentrating solar power, which uses mirrors and the power of the sun to run steam turbines. This renewable energy technology is highly reliable, can be scaled small enough to power one building or big enough to electrify a town, is a proven technology whose costs keep dropping, creates more jobs than gas or coal, and could, with a major rollout, displace 2-3 billion tons of carbon annually worldwide. There's no "smoke and mirrors" trickery about it. Just mirrors. Lots and lots of mirrors.

Read Here Comes the Sun 

• Download the March 2008 issue to read this and other stories listed below.

What's Inside

Commentary: In a warming world, everything we knew about hydrological planning is wrong. Designers and builders of dams need take note.
Making Waves: News and notes on the worldwide movement to protect rivers.
US: Unless the dams on the Klamath River are decommissioned, no settlement can be reached for its restoration.
Fisheries: New studies show that fish ladders on dams in the tropics might in fact harm migratory fish species.
Industry: The ugly business practices of India's state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation are harming communities at home and abroad.
India: Hundreds march to protest a plan to build 220 dams on the Ganges River.
Patagonia: An activist expedition explores the mysterious Pascua River in southern Chile.
South Africa: Cities should seize the opportunity for change amidst the nation's worst energy crisis.
In Print: Reviews of recent noteworthy publications.
News Briefs: All the river news that's fit to print.
South Korea: Campaigners are fighting the proposed Great Korea Canal Project, a boondoggle engineering scheme that would devastate wetlands and rivers.