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Solar Thermal Power in North-Africa: How Much Land to Power the World?

post #1 of 3
4/28/08 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 

An interesting article from TreeHugger.  Here's how much land it would take to power the world with solar thermal energy in deserts.  The red square on the left is for the whole world, in the middle for Europe-25, and on the right for Germany.

 

 

 

 

 Cool stuff.

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post #2 of 3
4/30/08 at 1:37pm

 This is very very cool stuff.  We are looking at a fraction of the landmass area of the entire world....to power the entire world with solar!!!  If there was any doubt as the extensive energy resource we take for granted and waste everyday, then your graph is the perfect talking point.

I saw this graph first when reading one of my favorite sites: www.theoildrum.com  in conjunction with the notion of solar storage possibilities as alternatives to coal/nuclear power.

In essence, some of the coolest solar collection technology is available now and being installed through the world.  The US is really really behind in taking advantage of solar for domestic use. 

Without getting into boring details, there is tremendous possibility for the US to move from a fossil fuel based energy economy to a green energy economy with only a modicum of investment ( in terms of EROI).


Thank you for putting up this post!  Very exciting times are ahead, if only we had the proper national leaders in place...

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post #3 of 3
4/30/08 at 1:49pm
Thread Starter 

Yeah totally.  We certainly have plenty of desert land in the US southwest.  If we would just put in the initial investment, we could get a huge percentage of our power from solar.  Not to mention how underutilized other renewables are, like wind, tidal, wave, etc.  The technology is there and the opportunity is there - it's just a matter of having the will to pay for the infastructure.

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