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Of all the things people complain about with solar, this is by far the strangest. Perform any calculations you like and you'll find that the area required to p

Of all the things people complain about with solar, this is by far the strangest. Perform any calculations you like and you'll find that the area required to power the entire world with solar would be quite small; the only issue it has (but don't get me wrong, it is a big one) is the need for storage.

hinkley 6y ago
In the US in particular, corn is subsidized and turned into ethanol at an alarming rate. Subsidizing solar seems like it would be a better use of land. Especially if you can combine it at all with buffer zones to control runoff.
foepys 6y ago
There were plans to build huge solar plants in the Sahara desert but all got scrapped partly because of energy storage and transport, and partly because few countries want to depend on energy production in countries with either (looming) civil war or semi-regular terrorist attacks.
- Jweb_Guru 6y ago
  I would not call Europe not wanting to be beholden to African countries the way they are beholden to Europe a problem with solar power, personally.
Lendal 6y ago
The problem isn't just with the area but also location. Would it be okay if it were about the size and location of a rainforest? That's what we're doing here in Florida. Drive down I-10 and you'll see large previously-forested areas now covered by several large solar plants. Really, really dumb. I've no problem with putting solar over parking lots or open desert. But forests? My state is so moronic sometimes.
- 8note 6y ago
  Most of Florida will be underwater by 2100 so preserving that forest doesn't sound all that to valuable to me
bluefirebrand 6y ago
That's nonsense, you can't just centralize it, or just build it far away from cities. Transmission loss over distance is by far one of the biggest hurdles for delivering electricity. So what if you can find one ideal area in North America with enough sunlight to theoretically power the whole world, it's not the point. Can you find a large enough spot of space with consistent enough sunlight in, say, Maine, to power even a single city there?
- Jweb_Guru 6y ago
  Maine has far more than enough space to power the whole state, not just a single city. I promise you that finding open space for solar is not an issue in any but the most densely populated areas--there's a huge amount of unused land in the world. The issue with places like Maine is not getting enough power on average, but the fact that it's very intermittent, which requires tremendous amounts of storage to make a majority-solar grid viable.

hinkley 6y ago

In the US in particular, corn is subsidized and turned into ethanol at an alarming rate. Subsidizing solar seems like it would be a better use of land. Especially if you can combine it at all with buffer zones to control runoff.

foepys 6y ago

There were plans to build huge solar plants in the Sahara desert but all got scrapped partly because of energy storage and transport, and partly because few countries want to depend on energy production in countries with either (looming) civil war or semi-regular terrorist attacks.

Jweb_Guru 6y ago
I would not call Europe not wanting to be beholden to African countries the way they are beholden to Europe a problem with solar power, personally.

Lendal 6y ago

The problem isn't just with the area but also location. Would it be okay if it were about the size and location of a rainforest? That's what we're doing here in Florida. Drive down I-10 and you'll see large previously-forested areas now covered by several large solar plants. Really, really dumb. I've no problem with putting solar over parking lots or open desert. But forests? My state is so moronic sometimes.

8note 6y ago
Most of Florida will be underwater by 2100 so preserving that forest doesn't sound all that to valuable to me

bluefirebrand 6y ago

That's nonsense, you can't just centralize it, or just build it far away from cities. Transmission loss over distance is by far one of the biggest hurdles for delivering electricity. So what if you can find one ideal area in North America with enough sunlight to theoretically power the whole world, it's not the point. Can you find a large enough spot of space with consistent enough sunlight in, say, Maine, to power even a single city there?

Jweb_Guru 6y ago
Maine has far more than enough space to power the whole state, not just a single city. I promise you that finding open space for solar is not an issue in any but the most densely populated areas--there's a huge amount of unused land in the world. The issue with places like Maine is not getting enough power on average, but the fact that it's very intermittent, which requires tremendous amounts of storage to make a majority-solar grid viable.