3 ms·
solar panels in the Sahara Given the inefficiency of photovoltaic -> hydrogen -> liquid hydrogen? transport (how, not easy) It would probably be
by PhantomGremlin 6y ago
solar panels in the Sahara
Given the inefficiency of
photovoltaic
-> hydrogen
-> liquid hydrogen?
transport (how, not easy)
It would probably be easier to create and ship LNG. At least we know how to do that.
But you're much better off just putting 2x or 3x the number of solar panels in countries that don't have as high a solar irradiance as the Sahara does.
Or even do HVDC from the Sahara to Europe. That is probably much higher efficiency than trying to use hydrogen or natural gas.
BTW in case anyone is interested, here is a map of solar irradiance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance
- glogla 6y agoIt would work with Antimatter though! Even better to make it on Mercury than on Sahara.
- TeMPOraL 6y agoOn top of antimatter generation, we can also collect it in space, as it gets trapped in planetary magnetosphere. Antimatter harvesting works best in places with strong magnetic fields, which makes Jupiter and Saturn much better candidates ([0] claims Saturn is the best). Not sure how much we could capture in terms of mass/energy; the impression I get is that it may be worthwhile for space missions, but I'm not sure if it's enough to power a civilization. -- [0] - https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2016/08/03/antimatter-production-harvesting-in-space/ https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2016/08/03/antimatter-produc...