▲ | epistasis 2 days ago | |
Take all the land area that we currently devote to oil extraction, refining, delivery, etc. Just that tiny amount of land is enough to supply the entire world's energy needs, if covered with solar panels. Power line transmission losses are negligible. We don't need to put solar directly at the site, just as we don't need to put nuclear directly at the site of energy use. The round trip efficiency of energy storage is accounted for in the cost of the storage, whether that storage is hydro, battery, or hydrogen. Solar really is the holy grail of energy: super cheap, super scalable big, super scalable small, and highly distributable or centralized. Pair that with the incredible cheapness of current batteries, and their falling prices in future years, and we are looking at a future of incredible energy abundance. As long as we are willing to accept it. |