Here's some of the advances that are taking place...the trickle down materials technology will also help with solar thermal as well.
India and China are producing coal fired power stations at a prodigious rate, and making them higher thermal efficiency than anything in the states/Aus...here's a paper on where they are going...in India.
http://www.babcock.com/library/Documents/BR-1884.pdf
Heading for 700C (1292F), 4,000psi, and thermal efficiency in the mid to high 40s...was at a few industry presos with Alstom in the early part of the century where they were showing the R and D.
Not so pie in the sky, when G.E. have the runs on the board already at Rheinhafen-Dampfkraftwerk in Germany...47.5% Nett thermal efficiency, while at 600C
http://www.gereports.com/supercritical-t...st-performance/
http://cornerstonemag.net/setting-the-benchmark-the-worlds-most-efficient-coal-fired-power-plants/
Germany putting in USC coal to replace their nukes...
John W Turk Jr, in the US in 2012 got to 42%, Nordjylland Power Station in Denmark held the record at 47 until G.E. took the title, but combined with district heating throws a few more tens (not tenths) of percent on top of that for fuel utilisation.
India and China are producing coal fired power stations at a prodigious rate, and making them higher thermal efficiency than anything in the states/Aus...here's a paper on where they are going...in India.
http://www.babcock.com/library/Documents/BR-1884.pdf
Heading for 700C (1292F), 4,000psi, and thermal efficiency in the mid to high 40s...was at a few industry presos with Alstom in the early part of the century where they were showing the R and D.
Not so pie in the sky, when G.E. have the runs on the board already at Rheinhafen-Dampfkraftwerk in Germany...47.5% Nett thermal efficiency, while at 600C
http://www.gereports.com/supercritical-t...st-performance/
http://cornerstonemag.net/setting-the-benchmark-the-worlds-most-efficient-coal-fired-power-plants/
Germany putting in USC coal to replace their nukes...
John W Turk Jr, in the US in 2012 got to 42%, Nordjylland Power Station in Denmark held the record at 47 until G.E. took the title, but combined with district heating throws a few more tens (not tenths) of percent on top of that for fuel utilisation.