UTEP students asked to pitch plans for Asarco landBy: Ramon Bracamontes/El Paso Times February 15, 2009 -- EL PASO -- As soon as Asarco announced that it was not reopening, discussions about what could replace the industrial giant quickly began -- an amusement park, a business complex, housing, a park, a mall. Those ideas may be good, but that type of new development will not lead El Paso into the future, according to a group of University of Texas at El Paso students who are organizing an "Adios Asarco, Hello Future" forum. The students are encouraging all of the school's organizations to give a presentation about what they think (Times file photo) should replace Asarco. They hope the students bring ideas that are new, innovative and a part of the green revolution. And after the forum, the students hope the university, the electric company or the state will embrace a recommendation. "Some of the ideas we've heard are using the land to expand the UTEP campus," said student Christian Sapien. "Maybe putting a new college there, a law school, or a recreation facilities for the school. They say it is tough for UTEP to get land, so this might be a good place to expand." Another student, Diego Rico, is currently working with several students on a proposal that would transform the site into a solar thermal power plant. He has read about it, and thinks this is the future of electricity. Advertisement Quantcast It is also environmentally friendly. "We've got to jump on green technology," Rico said. "Doing a solar power plant would really put El Paso on the map." Solar thermal power is a fairly new system that is having experiments conducted in the Sahara Desert, the Las Vegas, Nev., desert and other places. Solar thermal power uses sunlight to turn water into steam, which is used to power the turbines that generate electricity. The biggest problem with this new system is that in the desert, where (Times file photo) solar power thrives, there aren't any power plants. So, connecting a thermal plant to a utility plant is too costly. In El Paso, that may not be a problem. About a mile from the Asarco site is an El Paso Electric Co. power plant. "We'd be going from something -- a copper smelter that polluted the air -- to something that saves the environment," said Kathleen Zurlinden, a UTEP student who will be at the forum. El Paso Electric officials said they are interested in solar power projects and are constantly looking for new ideas. Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com;546-6142. Make plans # What: "Adios Asarco, Hello Future," a forum sponsored by students to talk about what should Times file photo happen to the Asarco site. # When, where: 11 a.m. Saturday, UTEP Union Cinema. # Information: www.regionalidentity.com/adios-asarco. Solar power Here is a simple definition of how a solar power plant works: # Concrete towers, up to 40 stories high, are built. # Hundreds of mirrors angled to direct sunlight from the sky to the tower are placed on the ground around the tower. # Sunrays are reflected to one location on the tower. # Inside the tower, water is turned into steam, which is blasted to turbines to generate power. # The system produces megawatts without emitting greenhouse gas. Related Links |
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