Sunny Outlook: Can Sunshine Provide All U.S. Electricity?: Scientific American
Maybe I worry too much about small global risks, but one issue with extremely high reliance on solar power is what happens if something disastrous causes the sun to be blocked for months at a time? For example, a supervolcano, a small to medium size asteroid strike, or accidental nuclear war.
It would mean the immediate end of power for months, and surely that would make national recovery all that more difficult. (Presumably, coal or gas fired plants would not last much longer, as such a disaster would cut fuel supply too.)
But I think once they are fuelled up, nuclear plants run pretty much on their own for a few years, don't they?
It would seem to me to be a matter of caution to always keep some nuclear power plants on line for this reason alone, even if solar became as truly ubiquitous as the optimists hope.
Solar power can't replace oil, period.
ReplyDeleteHuman ingenuity can not create reality, nor does wishful thinking about possibilities solve anything. We are trapped by basic chemistry, physics and math something most humans do not know or believe applies to them or this planet.
Compare the energy densities of all energy sources and the brick wall of chemistry, physics and maths are an unavoidable slap in the face.
Nuclear is the standout, of course, but regardless of which "alternative" source is used, oil is still going to be needed to make it happen. Bugger, hey!