Assessing the environmental impacts of solar/fossil power plants

Hybrid solar/fossil power plants have been proposed as a technology that would minimize the disadvantages and maximize the advantages of solar and fossil power plant technologies. The development of hybrid solar/fossil power plants is in its infancy. This paper presents an assessment method to quickly identify the major environmental impacts of this new technology, and to determine whether it offers any advantages or disadvantages over either an exclusively solar or coal-fired plant.