4 ms·
> The real difficulty lies in the infrastructure it would take to get the power to where people are. I live in Oregon and slightly over 1/2 of the state is fed
by cronix 4y ago
> The real difficulty lies in the infrastructure it would take to get the power to where people are.
I live in Oregon and slightly over 1/2 of the state is federal or state owned land which cannot be purchased. Even out in the middle of nowhere, there are still massive transmission lines carrying electricity from one part of the state to another through these areas. This is often in fairly mountainous terrain and dense forests. I'm often in awe at how much work they have to go through to keep the area immediately around these lines clear of trees and vegetation. I explore forest roads quite a bit. This is just to point out that we've been doing that type of thing for a long time and I don't think transmission itself is tremendously difficult. We just lack the will.
- genocidicbunny 4y agoIf anything, the fact that its federal land probably makes it more feasible to run those sorts of clear-cut transmission lines through areas. You don't need to establish easements or eminent domain private property to build such things. There are some challenges with transmission, but I think the bigger ones isn't necessarily building the infrastructure -- it's making the transmission lines themselves more efficient and reducing losses. We can't build all our solar in the southwest of the US and then distribute that all over the country; Our current transmission technology would produce too much loss over such distances.