Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
source of energy. It was not, however, until the second half of the nineteenth century that a
device capable of effectively harnessing that energy was developed.
Solar Ice
Augustin Mouchot was convinced that coal supplies would eventually run out, and set
out to discover an alternative source of energy. At the 1878 World Exposition in Paris, he
unveiled a miraculous device: a machine that converted the heat of the sun into blocks of
ice. Mouchot's parabolic solar concentrator produced enough heat to drive a steam engine,
which, in turn, powered an ice maker.
Despite the great interest aroused by Mouchot's invention, his engines never passed
the experimental stage. He returned to teaching mathematics, while his assistant, Abel
Pifre, went on to design several other solar-powered machines (see
Figure 4.34
). However,
because of their low efficiency and the comparative cheapness of coal, investors were
hard to find. Over the course of the nineteenth century, numerous patents were registered
for devices that took advantage of concentrated solar power (CSP), but investor interest
invariably fluctuated with the price of fossil fuels. This principle has held true to this day;
recent interest in CSP was sparked by the oil crises of the 1970s.
Figure 4.34.
A solar-powered printing press invented by Abel Pifre at the end of
nineteenth century.
