Solar could power world using only 1% of land

[Fluffhead]

Projected electricity demands for 2050 could be met by solar energy derived from 1% of the world's land mass, according to a new report

http://positivenews.org.uk/2013/environ ... ld-1-land/

[widdershins]

And the perfect land mass to use for solar power would be desert, most of which we don't use for anything else anyway, meaning it could use exactly 0% useful land mass.

[GurrenLagann]

Well, the general concensus is that it appears that nuclear fusion will be doable somewhere around or between 2030 and 2050, and it would provide a much more poerful source of energy than anything we now have, and it isn't reliant on any oft-unavailable source like solar and wind are.

[Plu]

They conviently forget to mention that 1% of the earth's surface is still 1,489,390.63 km2 of land to be filled up with solar panels. That's a lot of panels.

[Jason78]

They conviently forget to mention that 1% of the earth's surface is still 1,489,390.63 km2 of land to be filled up with solar panels. That's a lot of panels.

Well the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll be finished.

Whinging about it wont make it happen.

[hillbillyatheist]

yes but then how will Big Oil and Big Coal make money?

too bad they pretty much control the world.

we won't see Solar and other green energy until we just flat out run out of fossile fuels for the big companies to exploit and make money from.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I'm skeptical. I will peruse scientific literature and then form my opinion.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

yes but then how will Big Oil and Big Coal make money?

too bad they pretty much control the world.

we won't see Solar and other green energy until we just flat out run out of fossile fuels for the big companies to exploit and make money from.

Strip mining for uranium and metals for solar, etc.. Even biolfuel comes at a cost.. land that would otherwise be used to grow food used to grow biofuel sources jacking up the cost of food to diminishing returns..

Point being that if there is a way to exploit it they will. Even if the world were solar powered and the cost was almost nil you'll still pay big bucks for energy used.

[Plu]

They conviently forget to mention that 1% of the earth's surface is still 1,489,390.63 km2 of land to be filled up with solar panels. That's a lot of panels.

Well the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll be finished.

Whinging about it wont make it happen.

I'm actually more worried about if we even have enough materials to build that many solar panels. All the money in the world won't help when you simply don't have enough raw materials on the surface of the planet to complete the project, and for the time being solar panels require enough rare materials that we probably cannot build that many.

I'm also concerned about things like maintenance. That's a lot of people needed to maintain almost 1.5 million square kilometers of solar panels, and they'll have to be travelling through the desert to get there.

While it sounds all cool and utopian and I'm all in favor of clean energy, I can't help but see a number of serious problems with 1.5 million square kilometeres of highly advances technological equipment build from rare materials and put down in some of the harshest conditions on the planet...

We should probably start by figuring out a way to build solar panels that are more durable and require less rare goods before we start using them as a primary powersource.

[Sal1981]

yes but then how will Big Oil and Big Coal make money?

too bad they pretty much control the world.

we won't see Solar and other green energy until we just flat out run out of fossile fuels for the big companies to exploit and make money from.

IDK. Might mean that they'll have to adapt and Big Oil and Big Coal would actually be the ones making the solar panels and selling the electricity.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

yes but then how will Big Oil and Big Coal make money?

too bad they pretty much control the world.

we won't see Solar and other green energy until we just flat out run out of fossile fuels for the big companies to exploit and make money from.

IDK. Might mean that they'll have to adapt and Big Oil and Big Coal would actually be the ones making the solar panels and selling the electricity.

...and big oil and coal will become the most benevolent organizations on earth...right after the Catholic church of course.. :shock:

[widdershins]

They conviently forget to mention that 1% of the earth's surface is still 1,489,390.63 km2 of land to be filled up with solar panels. That's a lot of panels.

Well the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll be finished.

Whinging about it wont make it happen.

I'm actually more worried about if we even have enough materials to build that many solar panels. All the money in the world won't help when you simply don't have enough raw materials on the surface of the planet to complete the project, and for the time being solar panels require enough rare materials that we probably cannot build that many.

I'm also concerned about things like maintenance. That's a lot of people needed to maintain almost 1.5 million square kilometers of solar panels, and they'll have to be travelling through the desert to get there.

While it sounds all cool and utopian and I'm all in favor of clean energy, I can't help but see a number of serious problems with 1.5 million square kilometeres of highly advances technological equipment build from rare materials and put down in some of the harshest conditions on the planet...

We should probably start by figuring out a way to build solar panels that are more durable and require less rare goods before we start using them as a primary powersource.

Some of the problems you mention there are easily solved.  Solar panels on the roofs of every building, for instance, is a lot more realistic than "1.5 million square kilometers of solar panels", which makes it sound scary and impossible.  And the "highly advanced technological equipment" you're talking about is a modern version of a technology invented in 1941, so it can't be that complicated.  I remember hearing talk more than a decade ago of setting up mining operations on the moon because something found there in abundance was perfect for making solar panels, so while the materials may not be readily available in-house, it's plentiful in the back yard.

That's not to say there are not problems.  There certainly are.  But it's not the "doom and gloom" picture you've painted.  The biggest obstacle is cost.  The reason we don't have a lot of solar power plans is the cost vs return isn't comparable to other, dirtier technologies.  It takes longer with solar to get your initial investment back.

This reminds me of something I have always wanted to do, but have never had the necessary skills to do.  Maybe I'll have to do some research and acquire those skills.  Running a web site is cheap enough that most people can easily pay for it out of pocket.  Theoretically it should not be expensive to start a non-profit which takes donations to create green energy power plants where 100% of the donations go toward that goal.  Once a power plant is up and running, if the person in charge were not the type to say, "We did it!  Let's go home!" you would then have a steady source of income which you could use to build more green power plants.  The more you built, the faster you could build more.  I'm sure it can't be as simply as that, but it sure seems like it should be.  You just need someone in charge who is not greedy and who really wants to expand green power as fast as possible, as far as I can tell, but that can't be right or someone would be doing it.

[Sal1981]

yes but then how will Big Oil and Big Coal make money?

too bad they pretty much control the world.

we won't see Solar and other green energy until we just flat out run out of fossile fuels for the big companies to exploit and make money from.

IDK. Might mean that they'll have to adapt and Big Oil and Big Coal would actually be the ones making the solar panels and selling the electricity.

...and big oil and coal will become the most benevolent organizations on earth...right after the Catholic church of course.. :shock:

I was thinking about, which I didn't mention, when the oil inevitably runs out - doubt they're just gonna call it quits and fold their chairs and go home.

Well, we have plenty of coal, but that's proving useful for global warming.

[aitm]

I'm skeptical. I will peruse scientific literature and then form my opinion.

Stop it, just shut up you.

[Plu]

Solar panels on the roofs of every building, for instance, is a lot more realistic than "1.5 million square kilometers of solar panels", which makes it sound scary and impossible.

Solar panels are very location dependant. Especially if you want good output for them. Many buildings don't get enough sun, and many whole countries don't either. That's why we put them in the desert.

And the "highly advanced technological equipment" you're talking about is a modern version of a technology invented in 1941, so it can't be that complicated.

That doesn't say much. The cellphone is the modern version of a technology invented in 1941, but it's a lot more complex. High quality solar panels are expensive and complicated.

Running a web site is cheap enough that most people can easily pay for it out of pocket. Theoretically it should not be expensive to start a non-profit which takes donations to create green energy power plants where 100% of the donations go toward that goal.

Probably isn't, no. Might be interesting to start one up and see if it can be done. Of course 100% of money towards the goal would be a bit complicated since you need to market your non-profit, but sending out even 80% or 90% would be great. Especially if you indeed use any profit to build more. The only problem might be getting your hands on building space, because if you want to buy that as well the cost might get prohibitive. And you need to be able to sell the energy to then powergrid, but I think that's quite doable.