4 ms·
EIA says world primary energy usage was 6.346×10^20 J in 2020 for the year (https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/data/pdf/ref/A01_r.pdf https://www.eia.gov/outlooks
by hlieberman 5y ago
EIA says world primary energy usage was 6.346×10^20 J in 2020 for the year (https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/data/pdf/ref/A01_r.pdf https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/data/pdf/ref/A01_r.pdf)
The average peak solar irradiance is 1,000 watts/meter^2. Assuming we get that only for 4 hours a day and no sunlight any other time, that's 1.44×10^7 J/m^2/day, or 5.26×10^9 J/m^2/year. Dividing those numbers together, we get 1.21×10^11 square meters needed.
Texas is 6.957×10^11 square meters.
You might want to take that class again.