Future's So Bright

Seville, Spain in Andalusia could become the first city in the world to get all its electricity from the sun -- not from photovoltaics, but from a project that concentrates the sun's thermal energy with hundreds of giant mirrors in order to boil water and create steam, which then propels turbines to generate electric current. Already, the otherwordly plant -- a 40-story concrete tower that appears to glow with a kind of heavenly aura due to the illumination of dust and water vapor in the air -- produces 11 megawatts, albeit at three times the cost of conventional power. As it's the first of it's kind, the project developers believe costs will come down as the technology matures. And if nothing else, it looks incredibly cool.