Juice From Concentrate

This report by the World Resources Institute examines Concentrating Solar Thermal power (CST) as a large-scale, zero-carbon alternative to coal-fired power generation. It highlights the role of thermal storage in providing baseload power and discusses the policy and economic barriers—such as high upfront capital costs and the need for carbon pricing—that must be addressed to accelerate global deployment, particularly in rapidly developing economies.

• Concentrating Solar Thermal power (CST) can provide a zero-carbon electricity system and reduce global dependence on coal. When integrated with storage systems, CST can produce power during cloudy periods and after sunset, allowing it to meet baseload power demand.
• CST is currently more expensive than coal, and its economic competitiveness depends on carbon pricing and technology learning. A carbon price of approximately $115 per ton of CO2 is required for a CST trough with 6 hours of storage to compete with coal-fired power.
• Costs for CST are influenced by the prices of commodities like glass, cement, and steel, as the technology replaces lifetime fuel costs with upfront capital. Future cost reductions are expected through R&D in storage materials, optical design, and the use of larger plants; for parabolic troughs, the optimal turbine size is between 150 and 250 MW.
• Policy incentives are critical for near-term investment because carbon prices in the U.S. and EU are not expected to exceed $100 per ton of CO2 in the short term. Spain's feed-in tariff is cited as a generous model, whereas U.S. tax credits have been less effective due to uncertain renewal, though the 2008 Investment Tax Credit (ITC) extension provided eight years of support.
• Rapidly developing countries, specifically China and India, present a major opportunity for CST to limit coal expansion. In China, coal-fired generation doubled between 2000 and 2006, and coal is expected to account for more than 40 percent of its $1.3 trillion investment in added generation capacity through 2030.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Juice From Concentrate. https://www.wri.org/research/juice-concentrate

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Juice From Concentrate. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/juice-concentrate.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Juice From Concentrate |url=https://www.wri.org/research/juice-concentrate |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendjuice, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Juice From Concentrate}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/juice-concentrate}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }