Is it worth putting solar and wind generation in desert regions and then transmitting the power long distances to where it's needed?

[tjo o tjim]

On 10/9/2021 at 5:52 PM, Crossy said:

It's all about Uncle Boris and his Green Initiative, go green, damn the cost.

In fairness, it is still cheaper energy than what they will get from Hinkley Point…

[DefaultName]

A bit misleading, that "tiny village" is just where the cable hits the UK and the power gets fed into the grid.  This isn't a plan for just that village.

[Muhendis]

I just stumbled across this You Tube about electricity from Africa. 

https://youtu.be/7OpM_zKGE4o

[sezze]

They are thinking/working on , making the whole world connected . Since that would make the whole energy transition a lot easier . When the sun doesn't shine where you live , it does shine somewhere else , same with wind , same with summer and winter season .

It does cost a bit , but as you see nowadays , staying where we are now will get a lot more expensive in the future .

With the global warming , believing or not doesn't matter , there is a need for renewable energy and all others will phase out . In some countries it will happen faster then in others , and some economies are getting more involved in it or not , but all is gonna be like that ... like it or not .

Are there other ways , yes , but non of them are easy , nor cheap .

[Muhendis]

How about huge hectares of panels in space and power beamed to Earth.

Select a good receiver location just for fun.

[Crossy]

14 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

How about huge hectares of panels in space and power beamed to Earth.

Select a good receiver location just for fun.

 

I first read about this idea as an apprentice in the 70's and it's been an engineering dream since before Sputnik.

 

Interesting NASA report from 1977 19770010746.pdf

 

It's becoming more practical as technology advances, but putting panels in deserts with long wires is still significantly cheaper.

 

 

[Conquerbrqvilok]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:43 PM, Muhendis said:

The cable route on the picture/map seems to go within the territorial waters of Portugal and Spain. I wonder if that's wise. Also how stable is Morocco politically. 

Also why go the long way round Cornwall to Barnstable when the nearest point is somewhere like Plymouth and would would save a few hundred miles of very expensive wire.

Note to self. Must get shares in the copper supplier company.

Those kind of projects are international and protected by law so Spain and Portugal won't make any issue because those two are supplied by gas line from Morocco

About the political stability i guess you need to visit to know as i did is stable , safe , and adopting most of EU laws well is the second eldest monarchy in the world not a military regime in the end about the wires i can't reveal here what kind of the used one but have you ever heard of some wires having a magnetic cover which flow the current without any loss?

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

 

I first read about this idea as an apprentice in the 70's and it's been an engineering dream since before Sputnik.

 

Interesting NASA report from 1977 19770010746.pdf

 

It's becoming more practical as technology advances, but putting panels in deserts with long wires is still significantly cheaper.

 

 

Yes it's an old idea and expensive to do. My thoughts were a bit tongue in cheek, but a judiciously located array would have the additional benefit of  offering reduced exposure to suns heat should we ever need it.

As it is I would imagine there are similar benefits to be had under acres of panels in desert regions.

[ballpoint]

Things were going well until the time came to plug the UK supply into the Moroccan socket:

 

[sezze]

China is actually running a test this year or next year about harvesting solar power in space and sending it to earth ... will try to google it ...

https://spacenews.com/chinas-super-heavy-rocket-to-construct-space-based-solar-power-station/

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/15/china-plans-a-solar-power-play-in-space-that-nasa-abandoned-long-ago.html

there's more to be found , just checked 1 sec ...

So they are working on it .

[Bill3173]

Here is a similar (but larger and of greater distance) project.

https://newatlas.com/energy/sun-cable-australia-singapore-solar-undersea-powerlink/

[Muhendis]

2 hours ago, Bill3173 said:

Here is a similar (but larger and of greater distance) project.

https://newatlas.com/energy/sun-cable-australia-singapore-solar-undersea-powerlink/

Australia should now review its fossil fuel export policy and be more in sync with the worlds climate change requirements.