Tom Durning doubts that this is for real – but it sure is amazing:
“Solar City Tower,” built atop the island of Cotonduba, will be the welcome symbol to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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The tower, captures solar energy. It will supply energy for all of the Olympic city, as well as also for part of Rio . It pumps up water from the ocean to create what appears like a water fall and this fall stimulates turbines that produce energy during the night.
It will also hold the Olympic flame.
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At the summit is an observation point to appreciate the scenery of the land and ocean, as well as the water fall. It also has a retractable platform for the practice of bungee jumping.
Umm, conservation of energy? How can they reclaim more energy from the falling water than the energy used to pump the water to the top? If they can do this they have solved our dependence on hydrocarbons. Maybe what they mean is they are reclaiming some of the energy back through turbines but the thing is still going to use more energy than it generates. Also, where are the solar panels? (my guess is it’s the dark sides of the walkway in picture 2)