How Much Solar Energy Do We Need?
In response to my recent post: Can Renewable Energy Scale Up To Power the Entire Planet?, a reader notes: Looking at how many countries around the world are getting involved in renewable energy. I would say that it’s possible. I remember a statement from a National Geographic magazine: if we were to build a solar farm of one hundred square miles that we could power the United States of America.
In truth, it’s actually 100 miles on a side, or 10,000 square miles. Still, that’s 1/350th of the land mass of the continental U.S. And obviously, no one is suggesting this, given that:
• Solar can and should be geographically distributed
• Wind currently contributes about 15 times more energy than solar
• Other flavors of renewables with higher capacity factors and less variability, e.g., hydro, biomass and geothermal, all make additional contributions
• I know this is heresy, but there is really no imperative to get rid of every watt of power from fossil fuels (especially natural gas)
