In 2014, in far-flung West Texas, a group of energy developers floored industry insiders: They began operation of a sprawling solar farm in the heart of the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most productive oil fields. Named the Barilla Solar Project, the facility had the capacity to generate 30 megawatts of power—enough to supply nearly 5,000 homes—from thousands of solar panels arranged in symmetrical, gleaming lines. According to Andy Bowman, author of The West Texas Power Plant that Saved the World, the Barilla solar plant represents one of the most important chapters in the story of renewable energy—both here and abroad.
The Barilla plant is indeed an impressive sight. I first saw it last year when I was in Pecos County reporting on abandoned oil wells that had contaminated local water sources and poisoned the air with methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The irony was nearly palpable: In this arid desert, where the relics of the Texas’ petroleum industry were polluting the landscape, renewable energy had gained a foothold. Like Bowman, I had wondered what the development meant for the future of energy generation in the Lone Star State. If the title of Bowman’s book is to be believed, the answer lies with the Barilla plant, which can save the world from the impending threat of climate change, driven by the vagaries of capitalism.
Bowman shows glimpses of terrific writing. Immediately he draws the reader in with a boyhood story of his early life in Galveston: On the night of a hurricane, he and a friend went to explore. “Powerful sheets of rain bore down across the neighborhood, brightened occasionally like daylight by lightning spidering across the sky,” he writes. Bowman also tells of the hurricane that blasted Galveston in 1900, which is still regarded as the deadliest natural disaster to ever hit the United States, and then of the seawall that was to be the city’s saving grace. Even in the book’s early pages, it’s clear that Bowman has a unique talent for relating past events in a compelling, relatable and colorful way.
