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Wind farm would have to be about 30 times bigger than area taken by nuclear plant. Solar farm -- about 15 times [1]. Renewables definitely take more land. But t
by dmitriy_ko 11y ago
Wind farm would have to be about 30 times bigger than area taken by nuclear plant. Solar farm -- about 15 times [1]. Renewables definitely take more land. But there's no shortage of land in most places in the world. Shortage of arable land? Sure. But not land in general. E.g. all US energy demand could be met by covering a small fraction of Arizona deserts with solar panels. Solar and wind could also be located offshore.
[1] http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Website-Land%20Use%20and%20Renewable%20Energy%20Generation.pdf http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Website-Lan...
- rbanffy 11y agoAnd you can still use the arable land under a wind farm.
- ZeroGravitas 11y agoSolar farms in temperate regions can be mounted higher to let animals graze below them, assuming you don't stick them on an existing roof.
- rbanffy 11y agoThey'll still reduce the amount of sunlight plants under them receive. Not sure the side-effects are negligible.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoPeople will argue with you, "What about transmission losses?" Transmission losses are ~6%. Build more renewables.