Kramer Junction. Nevada Solar One. Andasol 1. Kimberlina. They're obscure names today. But they'll be household names tomorrow.

The reason? Each is now providing 'here and now' proof concentrating solar power (CSP) works. That can't be said for cabon capture and storage. Nor can it be said for 'next generation' nuclear. Each faces years of additional research and development before some 'first mover' will be game enough to build one. That just isn't the case with concentrating solar power. It's got 20 years of proven commercial operation (Kramer Junction) behind it. It also has new innovations coming on line (Nevada Solar One), with solar thermal storage (Andasol 1), and the promise of super-low costs in coming years (Ausra's Kimberlina).

What it  adds up to is a price-declining research and development juggernaut in concentrating solar power. This is rapidly bringing concentrating solar power  closer to competitiveness with dirty fossil fuels. The California Energy Commission estimates this price 'cross over' could happen by 2015. Bulls predict sooner. And in an industry where new plants and equipment can last 40 years, 5-7 years from now is like tomorrow. What this means is that for forward planning of new infrastructure, concentrating solar power is already nipping at the heels of coal. Toss in carbon prices and the reduced likelihood of protesters chaining themselves to bulldozers as they are likely to at any new coal plants, CSP starts looking like a VERY good deal indeed.

For its part, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) believes the best years of the concentrating solar power industry still lie ahead of it. When the first concentrating solar power plants were built in  the 1980s, the 'learning by doing' effect caused the per-kilowatthour price of CSP to fall by half, from roughly US30c/kwh to about 15c/kwh in a seven years. Today's plants produce electricity for somewhere between 10-15c/kwh.

NREL believes CSP prices will halve again in coming years due to R&D gains, economies of scale in manufacturing and larger plant sizes. That, in turn, should bring prices down to about US5c/kwh. Not even the most delusional bull on carbon capture (where they just guess on costs) or nuclear (where they ignore nuclear waste and decommissioning costs) believes either can beat that 5c/kwh price of solar.

For the next decade or so, the large-scale, low emission energy sector may well be concentrating solar power's to lose. The same goes for wind and geothermal. As above, that's because their 'opponents' (coal and nuclear) haven't even shown up to compete yet. Furthermore, there are regions (interior Australia, parts of the United States) where solar, wind and geothermal plants can be built out collectively, creating transmission economies of scale. You just can't say that about coal or nuclear.

This inevitably leads to a highly-intriguing 'Grand Unified Theory of Serendipitous Timing.'

It goes like this: current coal fired capacity is getting old and must be replaced. Current electricity transmission grids are threadbare and need upgrading. Per capita energy use is rising at a time when greenhouse gases must be cut. Intermittent renewable energy sources show great promise at a time when the introduction of electric cars and 'smart grid' applications are starting to look practical.

Put it all together. Solar, geothermal and wind could provide intermittent energy across an upgraded electricity grid based upon low-loss High Voltage Direct Current power lines with smart grid applications. With all this in place, parked electric cars could become a highly-distributed 'battery' for the overall electricity system. Plugged into  mains at car parks, electric vehicle batteries could take in 'excess' energy from renewables when the wind blows and sun shines, and then feed it back into the grid when the wind is still and the sun goes down. With millions of electric cars out there, the storage capacity would be huge. Petrol would be relegated to backup fuel, reducing Australia's imports of refined petroleum products and improving the trade balance.

This overalll vision is only just appearing on the horizon. In a few years' time, it'll seem like common sense. Let's get on with it.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is founder of DESERTEC-Australia and DESERTEC-USA. He is also a director of Acquasol, an environmentally-friendly power and water project developer planning to build a world-first, municipal-scale, solar-powered desalination plant in South Australia. He is currently fighting deportation from Australia.