this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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Assuming your math is right, a different way of imagining this is that 20 of these wipe out all other power generation systems with enough overproduction to power desalination and/or carbon capture from the atmosphere.
I know that there are currently problems with both of those systems, but at least carbon capture is going to have to be sorted out once we have excess capacity. Otherwise, whatever climate we've created will remain for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.
Of course, one slight problem is that this would need to be replicated worldwide.
Excellent points all around! The more it's done the easier and cheaper it becomes
Gotta start where we are, so the solution to the problems you mention is to just keep going until a better solution arises.
Is there enough available, usable land in California for 20 of these?
I'm sure there is. It also looks like solar and agriculture can be mutually beneficial, though I haven't seen any large scale projects doing it yet.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-showing-land-cover-types-across-California-and-the-size-and-location-of-USSE_fig1_283005360
A lot of that open land is BLM land, so idk if they could get it re-zoned for this type of use. I suppose they could use the Eastern desert portion, assuming they can build the grid to transfer the power, and actually finish the ecological impact reports.
I read the other day they are doing just that
https://electrek.co/2024/01/18/us-govt-opens-22-million-acres-federal-lands-solar/
I really feel the env impact reports should be expidited. The impact of global warming is gonna fuck things up pretty bad.
Not to say they shouldnt be looked at, but we shouldn't spend a decade debating impacts on some species of lizard if they'll be driven to extinction if we fail to act anyway.
Yeah, I completely agree. I'm sure there are groups that won't though, and that's the kind of stuff that really stalls these types of projects.
Wish I could find an easy way to show 4,600 acres overlaid on a California map.
You could get 6.5 of these in an area the size of San Franciso (30,000 acres). Relative to the size of California, that's a pixel or three.
There are vast areas of desert out there.