Interview: In the California Desert, Solar-Thermal Projects Take Off

Federal and state officials gathered in California’s Mojave Desert last month to officially break ground on BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which will become the world’s largest solar thermal power plant and the first sizeable one to be built in the United States in nearly two decades. By year’s end, regulators are expected to approve a host of other solar energy projects in California that could eventually produce as much electricity as several nuclear power plants. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, John Woolard, the CEO of BrightSource, talks about the future of Big Solar and the challenges the industry faces — from a woefully inadequate electricity grid to environmental opposition — as multibillion-dollar projects finally begin to become a reality.

Read the interview