I’m in Australia and there’s a big factor that you’ve missed. Ironically, panels don’t work as well in extreme heat. Sun light = good, extreme heat = bad.
I was involved with solar in the UAE and sand was a major problem because the panels become ever so slightly damp with condensation in the morning and coated with a fine layer that had to be washed off. I seem to remember the efficiency dropped by up to 80%. It's the same problem with cars left out overnight. We were even looking at automated rinsing systems. It was a decade ago and I don't know if they solved the problem.
@Potato_the_king You do understand there is water in the air, yes? There is water in the Desert yes? Did you know you can collect water from the air in a dry Desert? You're learning new things today congratulations. Sorry I forgot to pack your lunch. I'll remember the juice box next time too, but going to go get some cigarettes first.
We have recently learned how an autocrat thinks he can start a war and get away with it because his country are a key supplier of global energy. We would need significant storage and back-up plans to ensure similar autocrats could never contemplate doing such a thing.
@Dom Baker Here's the thing. You have two options: 1. Pay a lot for your energy and continue to think you are racially superior and can hypocritically lecture others. 2. Pay less for your energy and stop thinking you are racially superior and stop hypocritically lecturing others. Decision, decision...lol
And i see of how those people can promote themselves as "We are Democracy" and can judge another people thing, rights and wrong with their only perspectives More funny when they also forget that is their ancestors whos start doing the industrial revolution, cut all trees bu yelled at anothers development countries to stop deforestation while at the same time pretending to forget reforestation at their own land
So... people are smart enough to build a solar panel but not smart enough to eliminate dust? It's a dirty energy game and I am very glad more and more people are seeing it.
I had 5 years ago some Business with a startet from germany.. they convert shipping Containers into solar farms.. you just put them where is space, you unfold the system and connect the village or whatever usage you have.. they cost around 150 000 Euro per piece only.. but its a local solution..
I really haven't seen another critical issue addressed: after the first sandstorm, solar production of sandblasted glass drops precipitously. How can panels survive the constant wind-borne abrasion?
@William Carr ...and I'm betting it's really cheap too? Brah, NOTHING survives a 100km per hour sandstorm. Including "gorilla glass", if it can't survive a sandblaster, it won't survive a sandstorm!
Great video, and very informative. It is sad to see North African countries can't benefit from the abundant solar energy just yet due to huge risks for such a big project. Hopefully, their political stability would increase to a degree so that harnessing solar power and selling the electric to Europe becomes a viable business -- not only for people there but for the environment as well.
I understand that for long-haul energy transmission it's more efficient to use the electricity to split water to hydrogen and then pipe the hydrogen to the destination. There is already a gas pipeline between Sicily and Tunisia - it could be used to send the gas back instead. The best source would be seawater, head distillation and electrolysis - not damns of rain or ground water.
The idea is that it would actually give us more energy independence from countries that aren't allied with us Morocco might have terrorist attacks but Crucially they're allies and they have been allies for hundreds of years (even before the country was a country) Russia isn't an ally, and we get half our energy from there through gas. Well, we in the UK don't but most of Europe does which does drive up prices when war happens because then existing suppliers are strained There is obviously a risk that Morocco could also ally against Europe but it's unlikely. The other advantage of having solar panels in an entirely separate country is that hotter countries can typically produce more solar for export and we can send wind back, so it's mutually beneficial That then allows us to keep running basically 24/7 whilst seriously reducing any requirements for emergency backup like coal /nuclear Having a mutually beneficial relationship too would mean that in the event of war, both the whole of Europe and Morocco are screwed, so it's unlikely they even IF there was war, that energy would be affected because we'd need their solar, and they'd need our wind
@John Caskey no it isn't nobody is giving a foreign country 100% of power production it should be seen as a diversification of power production if you can get 30 % of power from north Africa 30% from your own means and 30% from middle east Russia or whatever. Then it lessen your dependence instead. Europe is already dependent even France with nuclear power is dependent on imported uranium.
We should be careful about the operating cost of PV. I worked in the KSA for a year and although skies are clear, there's a lot of dust in the air and there's an issue with water needed to keep the panels clean so they can maintain their efficiency
That went off topic really quickly. It started out talking about the myth about powering the world using PV covering the North African desert, ended up by talking about the cons of centralised collection systems and how horrible the Europeans are to Africans. The reality is that PV is far more efficient where air temperature does not cause the panel to heat about 28C, because as the panel heats the efficiency drops back dramatically, so whilst panels make more electricity on paper, in reality they do not.
The Australia-Asia Power Link is still a go as far as I know. Power to be supplied to Singapore and later Indonesia via the world's largest solar plant, the world's largest battery, and the world's longest submarine power cable. 20 gigawatts to be delivered for a cost of AU$30 billion by 2027.
And people talk about going to Mars. Man never got to the moon or he would have left a landmark like an SOS visible from earth with the naked eye or a simple telescope, but they can't fake that on the real moon.
Good stuff. I have been debating on going solar on my roof, but expanding the panels to handle 3x what I need. If the power companies were pushed to pay wholesale on more than I use, this would be viable. Unfortunately, local laws have it where the credits will be wiped out after a year.
@Ryan Kuypers The really only green energy (not counting nuclear since while it is the single best energy source option we have its not renewable) source that produces enough power to offset the carbon/green house gas cost it cost to build would be hydro and even then it depends on the river and has its own set of enviromental issues.
tip: calculate your power requirements, then multiply by 7. the average solar panel only produces 15% of its rated capacity, on average, in a day. so if you want to be truly energy independent, you will need a lot more panels.
they aren't in the business of buying electricity, they are in the business of selling electricity. If people are putting more power back into the system we wouldn't need them. They would have no money to reimburse you.
@Sam S "Save the planet"...spare me. I always chuckle at the ignorance regarding the mining or especially availability of the raw materials necessary to make green tech solutions. Solar is great (I have it on my home in San Diego county where it's economically feasible), but it and every other green tech idea have a long way to go to be a valid replacement for the fossil fuels that currently power society.
If they are like Nevada in the US, the panels are laying on the ground disintegrating due to the heat and the solar field is no longer useful. There is a long ways to go on this technology
@Aiba Sei Yes of course, it emits zero CO2, it is concentrated form of energy which means that existing transmission lines can be used, it is safe and scalable, and it will provide base-load energy until humanity can get fusion energy off the ground.
@James Harmon Yes true and the reality will be that some fossil fuels are going to be used for a long time to come even if we get fusion energy. This is why some of our politicians should stop spreading simple virtue signalling messages and take the trouble to get the facts and not dodgy information from rent-seekers and sycophants who just trying to keep their careers going no matter how much garbage is spread.
@‘Sup Chef yes, but no one is claiming fossil fuels to be ZERO EMISSION. Not to mention there is a multitude of other concerns besides carbon emissions.
I think we learned that relying on energy from people who view us unfavorably did not work out the first time. And the distribution of the energy was much easier.
For more than 50 years they were viewing you more than favourable (huge mistake for them). But then again, EU thought - well, we can change their government, reduce their power, and obtain their resources much cheaper, if not for free. You've got what you've got.
@PoonDaddy99 Ravaging Africa? In almost every case Africans benefited and continue to benefit from colonization. It's just that blacks and Arabs, no matter where they are, will never take responsibility for their own failures.
PS: a hunter goes into the woods, is caught by a bear, suffers abuse from the bear. second time, same thing. the third time, same thing, then the bear says: "hey, you don't come here for the hunting, do you"
As far as I know the ‘hot’ countries are waiting for the technology to significantly improve to overcome many of the issues they currently face. When the demand becomes critical expect western companies to come up with the solution and investment. There is no way the west will allow developing countries to monopolise the energy sector unless they have a huge slice of that cake.
Making the Sahara green again (as it had been so, up to around 8000 BC) was a failed project because of poor care and poor irrigation of the planted trees. As I mentioned earlier, studies show that solar arrays installed in the Sahara (to a total of 57,000 km square, out of the 9.2 Million km square area of the Sahara), is enough to power every countries in Africa. Get a bit more and you can power de-salinization stations located on the Mediterranean coast line, the Atlantic and the Red Sea, and pumping in-land soft water galore for all the gardens, farms, forests your heart desire. Sceptic can watch how smart Australians are smartly resolving costly hydro bills with sporadic insufficient electrical power delivery to homes, using one of their greatest natural, fully renewable, ultra-abundant resources - Sunshine! That was beautiful engineering feat orchestrated by Elon Musk (I don't work for Elon, but like millions of others, I support people with practical engineering solutions that benefits all or us). Thanks for your channel.
There are a couple of points left out, such as temperature, cost of land and intermittency based on location. Temperature is an efficiency factor for PVs and installing them in a desert where temperature goes beyond 45 C is not a very feasible idea. Cost of land in Germany is multiples higher than cost of land in Morocco. Finally, in Germany PVs energy supply will be more intermittent than that of Morocco's.
Since PV fit on roofs I don't want to hear about land cost until over 80% of roofs are covered in PV. It is an excuse to do nothing, probably sponsored by lobbyists.
@Paulman50 My, that's an old chestnut. Every reduction and potential reduction in emissions takes us a step away from self destruction. Buy a battery and study it closely. New advances are occurring daily. if we had stopped after the first fails at flying, we wouldn't be flying around the globe, nor trying to reach the stars.
also solar panels often get stolen in africa, i was there when they build a big solar plant and they gave up because after some months half of the plant was missing
So the people of the region must have plenty of low cost, clean, renewable solar electricity... right? No! Algeria gets most of its electricity from natural gas. They could literally shut down all their Co2 producing power stations and go green... but won't. Why can't Algeria can't supply solar power within its own country, even with all this solar potential? How is this possible? I lived in Africa for years. I love Africa. There will always be a special place in my soul for her. Africa is... Africa. Change happens very, very slowly. Africa can feed the world, yet has famished people. Money will not speed up progress. The complexities are way beyond anything imaginable. You will never understand Africa untill you live there.
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Interesting video, well made. For me a good level of factual background. Those napkin calcs are I think very useful in demonstrating where the obstacles are. For me the intresting thing reinforced by it is the difficulty of replacing European power generation with renewables. The quantities required are just too great.
Re "difficulty of replacing European power generation with renewables -- quantities required are just too great -- ": exactly right, when we consider that European industry, excluding that of Monaco, was built up off of an immensely thick and broad continental seam of coal that underlies no other land mass, as far as I know (Jared Diamond, 'Guns, Germs and Steel'). So how we can substitute all that with solar panels and windmills to power the industry here is self-evidently impossible. It wd be different if we only had to power the roulette wheels of Monaco and the London Eye. But all those casting foundries and metal-rolling mills of Germany, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, and so on and so on.... Very good video nonetheless: main conclusion, affirmed by many factors, is that power is best generated as close as possible to the place it is used. Ergo, more on modular molten-salt nuclear reactors, please.
You also forgot to mention the inverters are now perfect inverters, Inverters have loss. That loss is normally between 5-20% of the total electric load.
12:30 Yep, the way to go is, use solar panels for local electricity needs locally. Use solar panels for H2 and other gases/fuels in countries like this for airplanes and ships.
I was extremely curious about this. Whose idea was it to put a convoluted steam farm in the desert? Why can't solar panels that move energy without a conduit like the panels to charge mobile power banks just be scaled up in quantity? Maybe it would provide less power but less power is better than "we don't have water for this crap (cancels project)".
Thanks, I love your videos... I'm also very interested in how African countries would use Green Energy for domestic use, since the African population is growing and African energy needs are exploding... It seems like the climate change fight will be fought in Africa as well... The biggest factor seems the initial investment, because Green Energy is still very expensive, and many African countries are almost bankrupt... that's why it's so important that Germany, Danmark, Belgium invest so much in Solar Energy, so the innovation cycle is acccelerated, and Africa will be able to buy cheap Green Energy Technology within 5 or 10 years...
There is also always the issue of putting all that energy through a few solid lines, where it becomes a target for terrorists or military. Even fuel pipelines have been targeted or threatened.
We recently did a short school project on Nigeria and ~40% of their population is off their grid/doesn't get reliable electricity. Using local solar they can support their people without heavily investing in grid infrastructure. Solar is a win internally in Africa.
Love how he first says that solar power in Africa could be life changing for them. Then goes on about how we can create connections that supply Europe lmao
I am from Québec, Canada. Here, our vast resouces in lakes and rivers make it more convenient to build hydro dams. Our cold climate, with shorter periods of sunny days over the year, do not make solar energy use a viable alternative. Solar panels can be used, but definitely not as a main source of power.
Great Video, could you post a video about solar desalination of ocean water? Seems like the next big humanity jump because there is a problem with lack of water and another with the rising of the oceans levels, seems like killing 2 birds with one stone. I imagine little boats with solar panels in the water sending clean water towards land through hoses, is this very crazy?
@Michael Murphy Yeah, maybe it is better to send the water with salt altogether to an inland solar central that can do a more efficient work avoiding the excess of salinity. The navy or other ship probably do it to provide the tripulation with clean water, but that´s in small quantities. My idea of millions or billions of super little solar boats sending clean water to firm terrain seems very futuristic and unrealistic. For instance, each boat would need maintenance and the conditions in water are much more unstable than in land.😅
The navy (and probably most other modern ship) do this all the time. The biggest issue is what to do with the brine (leftover salt/water mixture) during the desalinization. Normally this is pumped overboard, as the overall change is pretty miniscule, but you have to be several miles out to sea as it the higher salt concentration can hurt the local area. So to make this effective, you'd need fairly stable rigs, similar to oil rigs, several miles out to sea piped to the shore and then to where ever the water needs to go. This would naturally result in the destruction of whatever sea life happens to be around the rig.
Love the idea of renewable energy and loved the idea of desalination boats. Anything that aims to produce a resource that sustains life is a worthy pursuit. That being said, I do not think renewable energy production for the sake of affecting climate change is a worthy pursuit. It is proving to be unstable at best and expensive to run and maintain. Climate change will occur regardless of our attempts to affect it. A better investment is into ways we can adapt and live with the effects of climate change. Like the desalination boats idea.
So what about Chile's massive potential of energy production in the Atacama desert (photovoltaic) and Patagonia (eolic)? Maybe the low local demand of energy may be a benefit for exporting stacked energy in the shape of hydrogen from water desalination electrolysis plants, specially considering that every in Chile is close to the coast. It's just the perfect industry for my country
@Phoenix042X Sunlight is free, so efficiency isn't so important. The important things are the cost of land, the capital cost of solar panels, and the interest rate. Half the efficiency for a quarter of the cost would be a good deal. Even though the Atacama is far south, the cost of land is low.
problem with getting hydrogen out of water (no matter what source the electricity comes from) is that when you burn the hydrogen in combustion or get electrical power from it in a fuel cell, is that you get even less energy out than you put in to get the hydrogen in the first place. You don't even break even.
Gorzux Matthew, Mikko and Phoenix have a point. Without fresh water photovoltaic flat panels cannot be separated from accumulated dust. High temperatures reduce the efficiency of the cells. But there is a solution using power towers illuminated by heliostats. 2 very large installations are operational right on the border of California and Arizona next to interstate 15 in the desert. Thermal energy is collected by thousands of steerable mirrors (heliostats) and using steam turbines, generators feed the grid. At the wrong time of the day. So they use a molten salt storage system. But in Chile you can do much better using your idea of sending the electric power to the nearby coast and generate with hydrolysis hydrogen. Hydrogen is hard to transport, too voluminous. Here is what you can do: Collect from the cement industry the copious co2 produced and using the Sabatier reaction ,convert the co2 and the hydrogen to methane (natural gas) . Liquefy it at -162C and transport it by truck any where it is needed in compact form. Part of the product you can distribute in pipelines in gaseous form as natural gas, with some hydrogen added. Or using the Fisher-Tropsch process convert it to liquids (kerocene). Since this collection of co2 is desirable and Elon Musk is promoting this, he might finance such a system. The heliostat system erected in the Atacama desert can be simplified, because no storage is required. Hace mucho tiempo habia una guerra entre nosotros , Abaroa era nuestro heroe ( que se rinda su abuela!) Hoy tenemos que cooperar.
I have watched the desert dwellers work with solar panels. Deserts equal dust and sand. We are not there yet. Small set ups that are easily cleaned and maintained by the direct user seem to be a good option.
We would need the solar farms to be distanced far enough apart so as one decreases power as the sun sets, the others take up the slack Because storing and moving energy is a nightmare
Intellectually we're headed in the correct direction with the ambition of dicovering an optimum system that's cheap to create, easy to maintain, and cost effective (surplus energy and profitability). We've already discovered so many that aren't useful for mass uses. (example: hydrogen, good for commercial/private, not appropriate for country residential usage). I love where we're going with the ideas floating around. Love that sht. I'd rather be in a room full of people discussing ideas on how to improve the lives of (locals, then neighbors, then international). Whatever method we decide on in the future, will hopefully be best for mankind as a whole and do as little damage to earth as possible. (that may just be idealistic). I do love when engineers start spitting out numbers and the massives (hopefully) realize, hrmm, that's not going to work. Lets keep trying. Excellent video! Was fun to watch, fun to learn from aswell. Keep it up!
This is all fascinating. On the surface if someone said to me "let's turn the Sahara into a giant solar plant" I would think it's a good idea. You bring up a lot of good points.
@Harsimran Bansal That’s a joke. Solar + wind can’t power heavy machinery. Wind is a total failure. They break easily and the amount of energy they produce is a not good.
@moh mab Starving people steal all sorts of things but they're not the ones taking power plants hostage or tearing down power lines and scraping them. Stealing food is forgivable, only a true criminal steals a power plant.
@Len Gould that's his point, to a layman who has no knowledge of how solar actually works, "lots of land + lots of sun = big good solar power" kinda makes sense
Solar panels are the wrong tech to use. Too much waste and rare minerals needed. There is a better and easier way: Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector technology by CNIM - Concentrating solar power plant
There is a lot of good information about the requirements for large scale solar power generation in northern Africa for Europe in this video. Thank you. The name of the video and somewhat political interpretation tone of some of it were at odds with the facts presented. From those facts it appears there are no significant impediments to building this solution other than the scale of the investment and time to construct it. The tone of the video seems to try to hype controversy by stating straightforward requirements as though they are impractical, which they do not in fact appear to be.
9:57 Currently any large scale operation for solar voltaics should be around $0.25 all in per watt tops. The Chinese were dumping cheap solar panels for $0.09 /watt back in the day. So, yeah, $0.25 /watt operational capacity is reasonable, given all the additional (but repetitive techs).
This (Sahara Solar Panels) is an issue (sand/politics etc) I wondered about over thirty years ago when Solar Panels were first starting to be produced en-mass. As for sending electricity, there are alternatives; but too many concept thieves to placate the Luddites.
"We don't need massive plots of land to make them work" stated for solar panels. This is totally false and he confuses land multiple use with acreage required. They take vast acreage, and here in Palmdale/Lancaster, solar farms are never multiuse.
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@Jason Reed Pour les déchets nucléaires, pas de problème, la décharge est juste à côté, au Sud de la France, en Algérie/ Sahara/ Hoggar ,c'est stable du point de vue sismique et très riche aussi en Uranium.....c'est simple....non?
Your hitting the nail on the head particularly with grass roots development = there are some things you are un aware of that could help that is in the average back yard- vacuum tubes are very effective even in apartments for hot water - small wind turbine is often good in rural conditions and complementary with solar and more than anything implementing water / electric technology into the system = water can be used as a battery when combined with the Tesla turbine developed 100 years ago in the form of cold steam that works on temperature/ pressure differential (if you can get your head around that)= is similar to how phases change works in a heat pump- the buy produce is distilled water- also using water via electrolytes to produce hho gas/ water gas / browns gas-that has many users (industry wise/ health wise agriculture and more - in short distances it can be turned back to electric and buy produce of pure water= most of these conditions are suitable for back yard situation particularly when done from basic design- is implemented into building design etc of storage and distribution = it works best on a small scale
In short, Solar Energy does have challenges, but it is doable if done on or near the cost lines. My state of Florida could be doing something similar. We have more sun than we know what to do with, and plenty of water.
I gotta say, when you listed *astronomical* numbers as 6 billion dollars I chuckled. A day of war between 2 large countries costs less. This is less than 10% of wealth of the wealthiest men on earth. These costs are literally nothing on a planetary scale.
I live in Kenya and solar here is incredible since there is no true "winter", its only sunny and rainy season so there is not less sunlight or less sun hours around the year
@grindupBaker Yes. I, too, have solar panels. They are very easy to clean, when they are your panels on your home. Solar panels lose generating capacity over the length of transmission. A solar panel on your roof will supply more power than one that's located on another continent. I'm not against solar, I have solar....but because I have panels, I know what they can and can not power. Building a solar farm that will power a home in another continent is extremely environmentally irresponsible. What effects will the cable have on the sea life? How will the panels be decommissioned at the end of their lifespan? No source of energy is really "green". What is the environmental impact vs. the amount of energy produced? That is the equation you must consider to determine what is environmentally responsible and what is simply exploitation of Africa.
@Real Engineering You’re still framing this as imperialism when it’s a win win for both continents. MENA earns a fortune from exporting Oil and will do the same with Solar. Local populations will be the first recipients of cheap solar electricity. This video was released a month before yours. Did you not know about this project? kzsection.info/green/bejne/z3uop7Gjn6JqanA.html
The technology just isn't there yet to make it cost-effective. Like we've been telling you for decades. 😂 I love when people "discover" something we knew a long time ago. 🤦♂
Australia spends 11.5 billion per year on fossil fuel subsidies for industry. In that context, a few hundred billions to build solar power infrastruxture for all of europe seems pretty reasonable
It's strange that if those mirrors get sand brushed after some time in a desert and if nobody has a "realistic" solution for that, the project continued.
Unfortunately panels output suffer in extreme heat... there are panels that perform better though and the industry has moved greatly toward being affordable. Storage of energy is the next great step
European countries exploited TRILLIONS of dollars out of Africa = It was natural order of the world. European countries investing back a tiny percentage of that money back = It is TOO RISKY lets forget about it.. Then some ''geniuses'' wonder why exactly refugees and illegal immigrants trying to cross into Europe while it is because they think Europe is the reason why they are refugees and immigrants and they are absolutely right about that...
Just amazes me how little people who support Solar/Wind technology actually know about it. The very best solar panels only capture a little over 30% of the sunlight that strikes the panels. 65 -70% is reflected back into space and wasted as the panels are of poor quality, manufactured as quickly as possible from the cheapest raw materials. Inferior panels are even less efficient than these technically better panels. All panels degrade by at least 5% per year and with an alleged 25 year life span (most need maintenance/replacement after 10-15 years) so you do not need to be an Einstein to understand they are operating at less than 50% efficiency after only 10 years. Solar is the biggest scam ever invented. Due to variable weather/dust storms and other natural events solar panels never achieve their expected capacity on a consistent basis throughout the day and due to this intermittency needed to have another reliable baseload power system such as Coal Fired or gas fired running in tandem 24/7. Then you have the problem that when the sun goes down they produce ZERO power so alternative sources must take over. It amazes me that there are people who believe solar works 24/7 when in fact it operates at an optimal level less than 6 hours per day. But you will never hear this from those who promote/support renewable energy. Add to this the fact that they require to be operated for 10-15 years before they offset the carbon released producing them they are the worst option with regards to producing clean power and without government subsidies for solar/wind and penalties imposed on coal and gas powered electricity solar would NEVER be used by any company producing electrical power. Even with massive subsidies whenever more renewables are added to the network electricity prices to the consumer rise giving a lie to the industries claim they are the cheapest form of energy. If you think that is a lie please tell me how much your power bill has reduced after they close coal fired/gas fired stations and add renewables. And tell me there are not more blackouts/burnouts or disruptions to power since renewables started to be added to your networks. Sadly, you have all been conned by business and governments for a more devious purpose but I will not elaborate here. Suffice to say any thinking person would NEVER obtain their power from anyone supplying renewable energy. If you can afford the panels and the batteries and can install enough to meet your needs 24/7 and still have excess then you will be able to generate your own power but if you rely on the grid for power you will simply pay more and more each year for a less reliable service each and every year.
I'm off-grid and use only solar. Mass production is fraught with problems that are nonexistent if done on an individual basis. Plus, I don't have to pay for public utilities or water. And no one else has any control over my basic needs.
0:46 Wow, the desert receives more energy per square meter than what the sun provides. How does that work? Here is a quote from the 'Solar Irradiance' wiki page; "This means that the approximately circular disc of the Earth, as viewed from the sun, receives a roughly stable 1361 W/m2 at all times". Therefore, it is impossible for any one place on Earth to receive more than 1.3kW/m2. Modern panels have a max input rating of 1kW/m2 and operate at 15 to 20% so a max output of 200W/m2. Then you must consider rain seasons and night time, using more panels so that the extra panels pump their electricity into large battery banks that are drawn from during such times. Then factor in a % of the panels being down for maintenance at any one time. You will need to cover the entirety of the desert (RIP ecosystem) to maybe reach the energy needs today. Never mind the fact that the global energy need is growing.
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@Dean Simmons All true however transmission and storage is still the holdup to broader use. I'm ALL for it of course, without these and other alternatives to fossil fuels we're going to be perpetually in trouble.
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The Soviets had a liquid metal cooling system for one of their nuclear power plants and they allowed the liquid metal to solidify. It bricked the entire reactor.
I have never seen a KZsectionr transition from his video content into advertising so smoothly and effortlessly in my life. I'm very impressed! Great content too. 👌
This commendable debate piece should also consider long-distance transmission using superconductivity, especially subterranean employment of high-temperature superconductors cooled with cheap liquid nitrogen.
@Rome101yoav no silly first you try it here then move out to other systems if it works don't be a Dave and go out there to die jeese Dave think man think🤣🤣🤣
In point of view, we must have a good relationship between 🇲🇦 Morocco and Algeria 🇩🇿 , and latest gas pipeline problems, maybe just a political way to press Europe, it's a big fake film between USA and Russia , against Europe
7140 real engineers disliked this video for its inaccuracy 7140 real engineers that wouldn't get fired on the first day of their job for leaving out losses in their calculations
Wouldn't it be easier for independent countries to invest so their OWN people have solar panels on their houses and factories, offices, etc. so that it's energy efficient on an individual level? This way, the surplus of energy goes directly to the grid and the investment can be done in a much greater time frame.
Did you know that solar power energy comes out in DC already ? All you need to do is up the voltage. Also if the Chinese would come and build bridges at 0.8B per 35 km, with plastic roads, you'd have a bridge the length of 21.000 km, for the 480B estimate.That's enough to fill all parts of the UHVDC line with bridges, bridging the entire European continent with UHVDC lines.
Even if this is a hard task, combined green energies will have to be a must in some decades. Solar, wind, compostable garbage, different materials that keep heat inside homes, some nuclear, volcanic and many other materials that will help the planet are to be considered. My personal idea is that water will be a major problem in a nearer future. Draughts are showing so.
The Moltex molten salt nuclear reactor runs continuously while heating the same type of heat storing salt used in solar boilers. The heat is used to fill peaks in demand while the reactor runs continuously. Costs are cheaper than coal and you don’t need all the cabling of solar (any type) to connect the panels.
Molten salt nuclear especially the Moltex) is intrinsically safe. Temperature rise above normal reduces power output to zero well within acceptable limits. Temperature falling increases power from the reaction. It’s entirely self regulating. The coolant loop could be disconnected at full power and nothing bad will happen. The fuel is liquid so cannot suffer physical degradation or the internal pressure rise that stops solid nuclear fuel being fully used. The result is 99% fuel burn vs 4% burn in a PWR. This cuts the waste storage time by 1000x. The list of benefits is huge. The only reason it’s not been done before is the endemic engineering conservatism of the nuclear industry and regulators who move glacially slowly and cannot comprehend anything new.
Molten chloride salt is LESS corrosive than hot pressurised water. It’s also completely impervious to neutron radiation. This cracks water into hydrogen (which embrittles metals) and oxygen which corrodes metals.
@Drake Koefoed we don't know it's one of those known unknown of science. We know that these waste give of radiation which is a for of energy we can't use yet. Who knows we could get to the point where the waste becomes valuable. There's been talks about using it as batteries. But there's not enough resources available to push those type of research yet.
@Drake Koefoed the problematic waste needs to be stored for around 27 years. The waste which is stored for lets say 50000 years is nonproblematic, as long as you don inhale or eat it.
Pv panels’ lifespan is about 15 years, the disposal of these panels- which contain heavy metals- is already becoming a hazardous waste nightmare. I can’t imagine the issues our children will have to deal with when large amounts of panels and battery storage hit end of life. It will be the next generation’s crisis.
Someday soon, one smart guy will construct a device converting gravity into any form of energy needed, also into electricity that we're so crazy about lately. Gravity is 24/7/365/everywhere/clean/100% natural/free/without side effects, thus its superiority is obvious. At some point we will take any matter, dissect it into its basic components and then put them together into desired atoms or even chemicals or ready complex products. Just like kids play with Lego Blocks. Using these two we'll be able to clean all the trash and toxic and radioactive stuff 'gifted' to posterity by previous subhumans and even straighten up our Planet, so that it's more livable and pleasurable for all creatures. Unless something better comes along before this advancement.
I haven’t read all of the comments so please forgive me if it has been covered. To my understanding seen in other videos the Amazon depends on winds carrying elements from the soil to the Amazon rain forest for it to survive, first would this be interrupted by doing this.
This was really really interesting. I’ve never heard of concentrated solar, sounded like an awesome concept until you explained the pitfalls. This is one thing, regardless of the environmental benefits that I like about the switch to renewables, because it gives the opportunities for much more countries to have their own energy independence and not rely on energy that comes from other parts of the world just for basic power needs which have primarily been the driver of wars and conflict. The entire world shouldn’t have to crap itself because a 30 mile wide body of water in the Middle East is being fought over by the United States and whoever.
@Ehbfunbcc Whjfhbhjxf Their have been several close calls in France only. They will actually denuclearise in the next decades, because they can't build new reactors fast enough to replace the old ones, so they will develop much more renewable energy. Another problem is France gets it's uranium from Niger, with very few care of the locals, or Niger itself (there has been some scandals recently). There is better ways to be energy independant.
@Ehbfunbcc Whjfhbhjxf On the topic of waste, uranium-235 decays into thorium during its fission, meaning it generates more fuel for other types of reactors. And, not all of the uranium gets "depleted", a rather low amount does, but it's too much for most active reactors. The good news on that, is that the remaining "spent" rods can be used in starting reactors and sustaining them until new full rods can be put in. And even after that, the depleted uranium is used in a lot of military things, like penetrators and armor. The total true waste produced in USA from the moment that we started research is extremely small, with a volume of only a football field size hole, roughly 2.5 meters deep.
If you believe its that simple, you have not been paying attention. Follow the Money and the Power. Its all about Control . Be careful of what you wish for. Do you have any idea how much the USA tax payer money has been sent to these countries to help them. Yet, nothing has changed. Figure it out people before its too late. This current administration is a joke and does everything to destroy us. Good Luck Ya’ll !
the thought of DC lines running those voltages at those currents strikes fear into me. dc does not act like ac. it is furious. better we collect light and colimate it, bounce from a satellite, and use the beam to transmit both light and electricity down the plasma duct through the atmosphere
CSP is also vaguely "Clean", being actually somewhat Green. PV, as with Windmill Turbines, just hides the vast amount of pollution it requires to create the "clean energy" system in China. This is one reason why the actual lifespan cost is a much better metric for actual CSP vs. PV and windmills. PV, windmills, Li-Ion batteries, all absolutely filthy processes.
distributed solar, wind, hydro with local battery and interconnected like a web is a much better overall model. it can be built up slowly without running up against sunk cost and will function better overall plug in a few small nuclear plants here and there and the issue is pretty much moot
I see a really awesome game like Factorio or a mod that focuses on electricity generation and distribution in a more complex and realistic way. This is fascinating stuff. Enough so that I feel I chose the wrong career.
@Y. T. I mean, I'm going by science and real world experience. You're going by absurd lies from the insane right wing. Who's naive? I mean, your thing about Germany and storage is a gross misrepresentation of the reality of clean safe reliable renewable energy, showing either arrogant ignorance, psychologically-determined ideological refusal to understand, or simple dishonesty. If you in the future give me any indication you're able and willing to comprehend and admit the truth I'll be happy to teach you about it and provide sources of more reliable information than you've apparently been trusting. I mean, your thing about peer review is a gross misrepresentation of science and peer review, and yet another lie being spread by the insane right wing as it tries to take over truth to exert even more control over the world. The fact that you're pointing out a person who tried to use peer review to publish what you're implying is garbage science (I mean, I haven't read it) might be considered a pretty good indication that the system works. I can point out other examples involving climate denial and ARFism that definitely indicate that, however imperfect the system is, as are all things created by humans, it works. So it's far, far more trustworthy than the nihilistic lunatic psychopaths you've been paying attention to. People actually wanting to know more about this can take U of Q's excellent free online course "Climate Denial 101". Concentrate especially on the video lessons on "consilience" there or find them at the Skeptical Science website.
@J you're staggeringly naive. If you want to depend on renewables in Germany, you'd need something like a 2-5 Terawatthours of storage. Cost aside, at the moment installing such energy storage would require about something like 5-10x total *worldwide* yearly production of all lithium ion batteries. In many specialties, anyone in academia can write anything and all it a 'study'. And get it peer reviewed. Look at the career of Diederik Stapel. Dozens and dozens of papers, over a decade.
@Y. T. I mean, Except we know it does work in the real world. When one gets past the all-too-common ARF (anti-renewable fanatic) tactic of serially isolating each source of clean safe reliable renewable energy, magnifying its imperfections, "forgetting" its advantages, and attacking it as if the others didn’t exist, one finds out they all work fantastically together. I mean, the hocketed mix of clean safe reliable renewable energy provides most of the electricity for at least 65 countries; at least 24 of them are at or near 100%. Dozens of studies show there are numerous paths to 100% clean safe reliable renewable energy for the world and almost every country. (Some tiny ones haven't been studied separately.) And since they’re science, and peer-reviewed, it makes sense to me to pay them more attention than a game. Even if it’s go.
When you think of the Trillions spent worldwide every year on the War Industry (AKA the "Defence Industry") this does not seem very expensive. Most of the costs are "one-off" infrastructural costs. (Most of the railway lines, bridges and tunnels built in the 19th century are still in daily use.) Cheap photovoltaics can be used instead of the outdated mirror collectors. The main problem with North Africa is that it is a dangerous and volatile War Zone. War Zones are not good Investment Zones.
I can remember this was shortly after the 21-st century had started, a big project had been announced - to build a huge photovoltaic in Africa. All Germans should invest money for the future green energy! Unexpectedly the Russian Rubel came into the pockets of the government people. The whole photovoltaic project immediately disappeared from the tables and no one wanted to say even one word about. Underwater pipeline from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany should solve all the energy problems of Europe.
The fact you mentioned Imperialism makes this video far better. You nailed it. That is the crux of it all. The developed nations engage in resource predation and export our waste to the same nations we steal from. The developed nations can save themselves on their own soil, but choose not to. But long term storage and energy transfer are decades behind. We can easily produce the energy necessary to power the planet, we fail to use it effectively as well as store and transfer it. In 2019 alone the USA lost roughly 68% of its energy produced simply from energy loss from transfers. We have the produce 3x times as much to meet demand, thus pushing pollution from out 80% fossil fuels to triple production. Nuclear energy (Gen IV Fission) and eventually Fusion should be the backbone with wind and solar being the supplementary energy sources for localities. The push for solar as the king, as well as Wind, is a marketing and political farce to delegitimize the safest form of energy production... Nuclear. But in large, this is an outstanding video that earned its thumbs up simply by the fact that you saw the bigger picture. Predation of the Industrialized/Developed Nations. We can help build a better future without having to steal. Helping others within reason. A Global Government is not necessary, we can be a collective of different ideas and still work together.
it could be practical though to spread probably largely decentralized solar power systems (like for one household or one village) through desert and desert-adjacent inhabited areas to replace wood and charcoal for cooking, and also provide some electricity for electronic devices to aid in education etc.. I hear areas like the sahel have long had a problem with trees being cut down for firewood, when they are desperately needed to hold off desertification and graze goats and such. countering desertification locally by use of solar power probably wouldn't make a difference for the climate, but it would help to reduce the displacement of people in those areas, which is generally going to be a huge worldwide problem in the coming decades. it would also be nice in that it would empower poor people, whereas the plans to export african solar power to europe would as usual benefit corporations and corrupt officials. well, the solar power would probably also be routed to some nearby cities, but certainly not to villages in the middle of nowhere.
@Sunny A It doesn't imply that and you again fail to notice globalism as a phenomenon is a consequence, not a goal. It's like going for a jog. You do that to get fit, not to sweat. Stop running and you may stop sweating. If the US withdraws, globalism goes down. For the simple fact that trade security will go back to regional powers. It has nothing to do with the military being puppets of a globalist agenda. I don't imply that or believe that at all. Their affiliation is absolutely irrelevant the relevance here is the action. Stop putting cause and effect out of order, that's how you make a conspiracy over natural progressions. I do believe there are people who profit from and take advantage of the phenomenon but I disagree wholly on the notion that "they" have a causal effect of it.
@Carlos Leon Your comment implies that every faction within the US military is pawns for globalist. Which is NOT true. There are very benevolent, intelligent, and amazing soldiers serving in the US military. To generalize their withdrawal from the world as a mean to an end of globalism is quite assumptive and inaccurate.
@mjolnir A battery bank would be the easiest however a water tower with pump and turbine would also be highly useful since it could store water in the tower during daylight and let it out at night to run the turbine as part of normal water usage
mjolnir batteries. maybe just lead acid for chwap weak setups, or perhaps repurposed lithium ion batteries that no longer hold enough charge for electric vehicles, but would still work for stationary use.
Don't pan sounds in KZsection videos to that extreme, on most phones stereo is achieved by having right pan come from the phone speaker, which is barely audible. Entirely panning to the right means that most phone users will barely be able to understand whatever's said - especially if you have music panned on far left
As a Moroccan citizen i really hope to see my country making huge steps towards this, and fix issues they facing esp the huge water consumption and be able to produce enough electricity to power the country and eventually an energy exporter !
@Waqas Ahmed The wealthier Arab nations are very far away, much further than Europe, and they have deserts and sun too. I think 2 steps are relevant: 1. Morocco can become independent of fuel imports. 2. Morocco can become a part of the European power grid. Selling and buying whatever is needed.
My question regarding solar is how long do the panels last, especially given the wind-blown sandy environment, and when the panels require replacing, what happens to the waste? There is a hell of a lot of heavy metals in solar panels. Who pays for the clean-up, or is it left to the poor African countries to deal with?
@Marduk After so many years of reading & hearing the same smug, self-righteous right wing deception & delusion leading the world into chaos, suffering, and destruction just because of their mental illness, my tolerance has been sandblasted away. 15 years ago I would have been much nicer, as I am in real life, as I called Marduk on his or her bullshit.
@J So your plan is to be so disingenuous and annoying I have no choice but to leave? I pity whatever poor soul has to tolerate your existence in the real world.
@Isaac Groen the PV industry is so new, and panels last so long, that very few have needed it til now. There are finally an increasing number in need of recycling, and companies and systems are rising to the challenge. We should recycle every one, and can, by appropriate government action.
@Shivumgrover You then also run into the problem of the weight of the wire itself. The longer it is the more mass it has until eventually it would be so heavy it would snap due to earth's gravity. It would require some type of wireless transfer to get power from orbit down to the surface.
@River Shen i read somewhere that solar farms in space can collect 14 times more energy. So if we dropped a wire down from the farm to the earth, there will be atleast a 50% drop in power? Probably far more because the distance would be much larger than bw algeria and German. So maybe 80% loss of power? That's not very nice. And if we send it using microwaves, there will be even higher losses? Is it even worth it right now?
@Mark Terpstra the power loss from cables is meaningless in comparison to losses over air. There has never been an industrial scale demonstration/trial of such an technology. Cables are getting better and better. At the moment there is around 50% loss going from Algeria to Germany (idk about losses from underwater cables so I assume the same numbers as overground)
Atmospheric diffusion is the problem there; made worse by the second return trip through the atmosphere from space. That being said, this idea is not without merit in the long term, if the solar panels themselves are simply in space and the microwaves are beamed only once through the atmosphere to the ground to stations across the globe. We don't so much have to worry about the loss of energy to the atmosphere, because as long as the sun is there, the supply is endless. This largely eliminates the problems of the panels getting dirty, being on the wrong side of the planet (at night), land exploitation at the expense of developing countries, and the transmission through potentially contentious territories. The primary problems at this point are that weather over the microwave reception sites will always be a thing and the overall cost/the lack of (relatively) inexpensive heavy lift vehicles to space... but hopefully that one will be solved in the next five years or so (SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc. breaking the ice there).
Does someone know how much photovoltaik in marocco produces in the critical months december, january and february (in comparsion to summer)? In these months in germany, they unfortunately produce almost nothing.
Make aluminum and transport that - surely there are some reasonable aluminum deposits somewhere across the Sahara, and if they have high silicon content then use that to make more panels. Much easier to trade aluminum to Asia and the Americas, and aluminum metal is extremely efficient energy storage.
As someone who grew up in West Africa, it will come down government officials and how honest they are. Corruption even in the countries that are doing well (Ghana for example) is still present. Ask any Ghanaian about ECG (the Electricity Company of Ghana…also known as “Electricity Come and Go”).
when electricity is literally money there is no "corruption" to be had in the matter. It will be in the politicians best interest to make more electricity.
You will never get a grassroots solar energy buildup no matter what country or government system you use. Solar energy is prohibitively expensive and only exist because of government subsidies and a complete neglect in environmental standards when producing in China. A huge industrial base is needed to make all those panels and a huge investment that can only come from governments is needed to start the projects. Why should any government invest in Africa when the African governments have no safeguards to protect the project?
Dumsor is real. As Ghanaians we need to stop looking at our corrupt government for solutions. The solutions will come from us the people not the politicians.
@VerveTech East Legon in Accra. Maybe the government/companies have changed their practices since 2005-2012ish, but for a long time, it was 24 hours of electricity, 24 hours off. We spent so much money on fuel for the generator. How can you export power to neighboring countries when sections of your own capital city goes without power?
150 million * 592 is a bit more than 8.9 billion $
It's 0.088 billion
$89B is still chump-change. The 2022 US Federal Gov spent that every 5 days!
Make an correction in the video then :P
It does not really matter. One very high power lines will be far cheaper then 500 individual lines having the same total power capacity.
@Real Engineering poor boy better learn the morse code and transmit the Sahara PV
I’m in Australia and there’s a big factor that you’ve missed. Ironically, panels don’t work as well in extreme heat. Sun light = good, extreme heat = bad.
Watercool them and use the heated water to power steam turbines and condensers
@Dale Anderson nothing like a magic wand creating panels from no available resources! Dreamland thinking!
Soon we will have fusion and all of this will be obsolete
@Sam Hamsord microwaves 👹
@Krzysztof Bobkowski put you in the shade lol
I was involved with solar in the UAE and sand was a major problem because the panels become ever so slightly damp with condensation in the morning and coated with a fine layer that had to be washed off. I seem to remember the efficiency dropped by up to 80%. It's the same problem with cars left out overnight. We were even looking at automated rinsing systems. It was a decade ago and I don't know if they solved the problem.
@Potato_the_king You do understand there is water in the air, yes? There is water in the Desert yes? Did you know you can collect water from the air in a dry Desert? You're learning new things today congratulations. Sorry I forgot to pack your lunch. I'll remember the juice box next time too, but going to go get some cigarettes first.
@Mhlengi Ndlovu It is super-heated steam at 5 atmospheric pressure.
@Mhlengi Ndlovu its under pressure, under high pressure water boils at higher temperature. with no/normal pressure, it boils @ 100c.
@Aylbdr Madison oi8
@Pan Gloss water, in UAE, good thinking.
We have recently learned how an autocrat thinks he can start a war and get away with it because his country are a key supplier of global energy. We would need significant storage and back-up plans to ensure similar autocrats could never contemplate doing such a thing.
Playing semantics eh...alright, I'll play along. Autocrates. Plural. Most people you lot consider "autocrates" are not the same race as you.
@JP you've lost me dude. The Russian government i criticised for committing these atrocities are the same race as me.
@Dom Baker Here's the thing. You have two options: 1. Pay a lot for your energy and continue to think you are racially superior and can hypocritically lecture others. 2. Pay less for your energy and stop thinking you are racially superior and stop hypocritically lecturing others. Decision, decision...lol
@Syarif Hidayat yes, I agree with you.
And i see of how those people can promote themselves as "We are Democracy" and can judge another people thing, rights and wrong with their only perspectives More funny when they also forget that is their ancestors whos start doing the industrial revolution, cut all trees bu yelled at anothers development countries to stop deforestation while at the same time pretending to forget reforestation at their own land
So... people are smart enough to build a solar panel but not smart enough to eliminate dust? It's a dirty energy game and I am very glad more and more people are seeing it.
Meanwhile NASA is facing the same dirt issue trying to put people on Mars
I had 5 years ago some Business with a startet from germany.. they convert shipping Containers into solar farms.. you just put them where is space, you unfold the system and connect the village or whatever usage you have.. they cost around 150 000 Euro per piece only.. but its a local solution..
I really haven't seen another critical issue addressed: after the first sandstorm, solar production of sandblasted glass drops precipitously. How can panels survive the constant wind-borne abrasion?
@William Carr ...and I'm betting it's really cheap too? Brah, NOTHING survives a 100km per hour sandstorm. Including "gorilla glass", if it can't survive a sandblaster, it won't survive a sandstorm!
@MondoTV The Chinese invented a way to fix desert sand and reverse desertification.
Have you ever heard of Gorilla Glass? It’s a scratch resistant glass used in cellphone screens.
@Christoffer Erickson excellent idea! Moving parts rubbing sand across the glass will work well!
Windshield wipers.
Yeah using solar in germany makes sense.. we have like every day, sunny day .. lol .. *sarcasm off*
First get Spain and Portugal equipped with solar farms! Where the European Electrical Grid ALREADY EXIST!
Great video, and very informative. It is sad to see North African countries can't benefit from the abundant solar energy just yet due to huge risks for such a big project. Hopefully, their political stability would increase to a degree so that harnessing solar power and selling the electric to Europe becomes a viable business -- not only for people there but for the environment as well.
Well, sadly the narrator doesn't even seem to understand the very fundamental difference between power (W, kW, etc.) and energy (Wh, kWh, etc.).
I understand that for long-haul energy transmission it's more efficient to use the electricity to split water to hydrogen and then pipe the hydrogen to the destination. There is already a gas pipeline between Sicily and Tunisia - it could be used to send the gas back instead. The best source would be seawater, head distillation and electrolysis - not damns of rain or ground water.
Beyond the technical and scientific issues, there's also the problem of energy dependence. Giving another country control over your power is insane.
Tell that to Germany
So we need that climate change.
The idea is that it would actually give us more energy independence from countries that aren't allied with us Morocco might have terrorist attacks but Crucially they're allies and they have been allies for hundreds of years (even before the country was a country) Russia isn't an ally, and we get half our energy from there through gas. Well, we in the UK don't but most of Europe does which does drive up prices when war happens because then existing suppliers are strained There is obviously a risk that Morocco could also ally against Europe but it's unlikely. The other advantage of having solar panels in an entirely separate country is that hotter countries can typically produce more solar for export and we can send wind back, so it's mutually beneficial That then allows us to keep running basically 24/7 whilst seriously reducing any requirements for emergency backup like coal /nuclear Having a mutually beneficial relationship too would mean that in the event of war, both the whole of Europe and Morocco are screwed, so it's unlikely they even IF there was war, that energy would be affected because we'd need their solar, and they'd need our wind
Yeh, and solar farms are delicious things to bomb from the air!
@John Caskey no it isn't nobody is giving a foreign country 100% of power production it should be seen as a diversification of power production if you can get 30 % of power from north Africa 30% from your own means and 30% from middle east Russia or whatever. Then it lessen your dependence instead. Europe is already dependent even France with nuclear power is dependent on imported uranium.
We should be careful about the operating cost of PV. I worked in the KSA for a year and although skies are clear, there's a lot of dust in the air and there's an issue with water needed to keep the panels clean so they can maintain their efficiency
The wind coming from the Atlantic ocean is pretty clear from dust.
That went off topic really quickly. It started out talking about the myth about powering the world using PV covering the North African desert, ended up by talking about the cons of centralised collection systems and how horrible the Europeans are to Africans. The reality is that PV is far more efficient where air temperature does not cause the panel to heat about 28C, because as the panel heats the efficiency drops back dramatically, so whilst panels make more electricity on paper, in reality they do not.
The Australia-Asia Power Link is still a go as far as I know. Power to be supplied to Singapore and later Indonesia via the world's largest solar plant, the world's largest battery, and the world's longest submarine power cable. 20 gigawatts to be delivered for a cost of AU$30 billion by 2027.
The engineering feat of mankind is undoubtedly a spectacle that will surely leave its footprint on existence.
And people talk about going to Mars. Man never got to the moon or he would have left a landmark like an SOS visible from earth with the naked eye or a simple telescope, but they can't fake that on the real moon.
So we know how and why it failed. So how can it be made to work? Is anyone trying to answer that question?
Amazing doc. Excellent voice off, planned edition and deep information as narrative. Please keep this lifesaving information flowing.
Good stuff. I have been debating on going solar on my roof, but expanding the panels to handle 3x what I need. If the power companies were pushed to pay wholesale on more than I use, this would be viable. Unfortunately, local laws have it where the credits will be wiped out after a year.
Credits are sold in many other industries, including Tax Credits.
@Ryan Kuypers The really only green energy (not counting nuclear since while it is the single best energy source option we have its not renewable) source that produces enough power to offset the carbon/green house gas cost it cost to build would be hydro and even then it depends on the river and has its own set of enviromental issues.
tip: calculate your power requirements, then multiply by 7. the average solar panel only produces 15% of its rated capacity, on average, in a day. so if you want to be truly energy independent, you will need a lot more panels.
they aren't in the business of buying electricity, they are in the business of selling electricity. If people are putting more power back into the system we wouldn't need them. They would have no money to reimburse you.
@Sam S "Save the planet"...spare me. I always chuckle at the ignorance regarding the mining or especially availability of the raw materials necessary to make green tech solutions. Solar is great (I have it on my home in San Diego county where it's economically feasible), but it and every other green tech idea have a long way to go to be a valid replacement for the fossil fuels that currently power society.
could you also discuss what happens to the solar panels at end of life?
If they are like Nevada in the US, the panels are laying on the ground disintegrating due to the heat and the solar field is no longer useful. There is a long ways to go on this technology
@Aiba Sei Yes of course, it emits zero CO2, it is concentrated form of energy which means that existing transmission lines can be used, it is safe and scalable, and it will provide base-load energy until humanity can get fusion energy off the ground.
@James Harmon Yes true and the reality will be that some fossil fuels are going to be used for a long time to come even if we get fusion energy. This is why some of our politicians should stop spreading simple virtue signalling messages and take the trouble to get the facts and not dodgy information from rent-seekers and sycophants who just trying to keep their careers going no matter how much garbage is spread.
@Ernst so is it better to use nuclear energy?
@‘Sup Chef yes, but no one is claiming fossil fuels to be ZERO EMISSION. Not to mention there is a multitude of other concerns besides carbon emissions.
I think we learned that relying on energy from people who view us unfavorably did not work out the first time. And the distribution of the energy was much easier.
Yeah that’s why Europe news fusion reactors
For more than 50 years they were viewing you more than favourable (huge mistake for them). But then again, EU thought - well, we can change their government, reduce their power, and obtain their resources much cheaper, if not for free. You've got what you've got.
@PoonDaddy99 Ravaging Africa? In almost every case Africans benefited and continue to benefit from colonization. It's just that blacks and Arabs, no matter where they are, will never take responsibility for their own failures.
PS: a hunter goes into the woods, is caught by a bear, suffers abuse from the bear. second time, same thing. the third time, same thing, then the bear says: "hey, you don't come here for the hunting, do you"
two men in a bar: "see that guy over there? let's go and punch him" - "what if he punches us?" - "why us though, what did we do"
As far as I know the ‘hot’ countries are waiting for the technology to significantly improve to overcome many of the issues they currently face. When the demand becomes critical expect western companies to come up with the solution and investment. There is no way the west will allow developing countries to monopolise the energy sector unless they have a huge slice of that cake.
Making the Sahara green again (as it had been so, up to around 8000 BC) was a failed project because of poor care and poor irrigation of the planted trees. As I mentioned earlier, studies show that solar arrays installed in the Sahara (to a total of 57,000 km square, out of the 9.2 Million km square area of the Sahara), is enough to power every countries in Africa. Get a bit more and you can power de-salinization stations located on the Mediterranean coast line, the Atlantic and the Red Sea, and pumping in-land soft water galore for all the gardens, farms, forests your heart desire. Sceptic can watch how smart Australians are smartly resolving costly hydro bills with sporadic insufficient electrical power delivery to homes, using one of their greatest natural, fully renewable, ultra-abundant resources - Sunshine! That was beautiful engineering feat orchestrated by Elon Musk (I don't work for Elon, but like millions of others, I support people with practical engineering solutions that benefits all or us). Thanks for your channel.
There are a couple of points left out, such as temperature, cost of land and intermittency based on location. Temperature is an efficiency factor for PVs and installing them in a desert where temperature goes beyond 45 C is not a very feasible idea. Cost of land in Germany is multiples higher than cost of land in Morocco. Finally, in Germany PVs energy supply will be more intermittent than that of Morocco's.
Since PV fit on roofs I don't want to hear about land cost until over 80% of roofs are covered in PV. It is an excuse to do nothing, probably sponsored by lobbyists.
@Paulman50 My, that's an old chestnut. Every reduction and potential reduction in emissions takes us a step away from self destruction. Buy a battery and study it closely. New advances are occurring daily. if we had stopped after the first fails at flying, we wouldn't be flying around the globe, nor trying to reach the stars.
also solar panels often get stolen in africa, i was there when they build a big solar plant and they gave up because after some months half of the plant was missing
@Ggoddkkiller Interesting arguement. However, we had the muskets, you had the spears.
So the people of the region must have plenty of low cost, clean, renewable solar electricity... right? No! Algeria gets most of its electricity from natural gas. They could literally shut down all their Co2 producing power stations and go green... but won't. Why can't Algeria can't supply solar power within its own country, even with all this solar potential? How is this possible? I lived in Africa for years. I love Africa. There will always be a special place in my soul for her. Africa is... Africa. Change happens very, very slowly. Africa can feed the world, yet has famished people. Money will not speed up progress. The complexities are way beyond anything imaginable. You will never understand Africa untill you live there.
I have been saying for at least we should 20 years we should cover the deserts with solar.
No wonder nobody's paying attention, 'cause they didn't understand what you said in just one simple sentence.
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Interesting video, well made. For me a good level of factual background. Those napkin calcs are I think very useful in demonstrating where the obstacles are. For me the intresting thing reinforced by it is the difficulty of replacing European power generation with renewables. The quantities required are just too great.
Re "difficulty of replacing European power generation with renewables -- quantities required are just too great -- ": exactly right, when we consider that European industry, excluding that of Monaco, was built up off of an immensely thick and broad continental seam of coal that underlies no other land mass, as far as I know (Jared Diamond, 'Guns, Germs and Steel'). So how we can substitute all that with solar panels and windmills to power the industry here is self-evidently impossible. It wd be different if we only had to power the roulette wheels of Monaco and the London Eye. But all those casting foundries and metal-rolling mills of Germany, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, and so on and so on.... Very good video nonetheless: main conclusion, affirmed by many factors, is that power is best generated as close as possible to the place it is used. Ergo, more on modular molten-salt nuclear reactors, please.
You also forgot to mention the inverters are now perfect inverters, Inverters have loss. That loss is normally between 5-20% of the total electric load.
12:30 Yep, the way to go is, use solar panels for local electricity needs locally. Use solar panels for H2 and other gases/fuels in countries like this for airplanes and ships.
I find it fascinating that one of the best ways of generating energy is still just to heat water up and use the steam.
I was extremely curious about this. Whose idea was it to put a convoluted steam farm in the desert? Why can't solar panels that move energy without a conduit like the panels to charge mobile power banks just be scaled up in quantity? Maybe it would provide less power but less power is better than "we don't have water for this crap (cancels project)".
Thanks, I love your videos... I'm also very interested in how African countries would use Green Energy for domestic use, since the African population is growing and African energy needs are exploding... It seems like the climate change fight will be fought in Africa as well... The biggest factor seems the initial investment, because Green Energy is still very expensive, and many African countries are almost bankrupt... that's why it's so important that Germany, Danmark, Belgium invest so much in Solar Energy, so the innovation cycle is acccelerated, and Africa will be able to buy cheap Green Energy Technology within 5 or 10 years...
There is also always the issue of putting all that energy through a few solid lines, where it becomes a target for terrorists or military. Even fuel pipelines have been targeted or threatened.
We recently did a short school project on Nigeria and ~40% of their population is off their grid/doesn't get reliable electricity. Using local solar they can support their people without heavily investing in grid infrastructure. Solar is a win internally in Africa.
@Krusten Kaese How about studying the skyrocketing amounts of useless children with zero perspectives?
Yes, they will benefit by reliable higher density power. We have that - fossil fuels
I'm a Nigerian and I'll like to know more about that project and how to implement it especially at the North due to the abundance sunlight.
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@Delt4_Cr4wfish Thats why one uses batteries.
'volatile countries' is actually all the explanation you need ;-) Thanks for the video!
Love how he first says that solar power in Africa could be life changing for them. Then goes on about how we can create connections that supply Europe lmao
@TK Blouch The Weather and the fact it's the only arable land.
@Andrew Ryan they settled because of weather.
@N1ko0L you mean Europe would steel that
yes very sick. I've stopped that clip after that lol crazy
@Midnight They can't do that to Algeria. Moreover, Algeria is not poor.
I am from Québec, Canada. Here, our vast resouces in lakes and rivers make it more convenient to build hydro dams. Our cold climate, with shorter periods of sunny days over the year, do not make solar energy use a viable alternative. Solar panels can be used, but definitely not as a main source of power.
Great Video, could you post a video about solar desalination of ocean water? Seems like the next big humanity jump because there is a problem with lack of water and another with the rising of the oceans levels, seems like killing 2 birds with one stone. I imagine little boats with solar panels in the water sending clean water towards land through hoses, is this very crazy?
@Michael Murphy Yeah, maybe it is better to send the water with salt altogether to an inland solar central that can do a more efficient work avoiding the excess of salinity. The navy or other ship probably do it to provide the tripulation with clean water, but that´s in small quantities. My idea of millions or billions of super little solar boats sending clean water to firm terrain seems very futuristic and unrealistic. For instance, each boat would need maintenance and the conditions in water are much more unstable than in land.😅
The navy (and probably most other modern ship) do this all the time. The biggest issue is what to do with the brine (leftover salt/water mixture) during the desalinization. Normally this is pumped overboard, as the overall change is pretty miniscule, but you have to be several miles out to sea as it the higher salt concentration can hurt the local area. So to make this effective, you'd need fairly stable rigs, similar to oil rigs, several miles out to sea piped to the shore and then to where ever the water needs to go. This would naturally result in the destruction of whatever sea life happens to be around the rig.
Love the idea of renewable energy and loved the idea of desalination boats. Anything that aims to produce a resource that sustains life is a worthy pursuit. That being said, I do not think renewable energy production for the sake of affecting climate change is a worthy pursuit. It is proving to be unstable at best and expensive to run and maintain. Climate change will occur regardless of our attempts to affect it. A better investment is into ways we can adapt and live with the effects of climate change. Like the desalination boats idea.
So what about Chile's massive potential of energy production in the Atacama desert (photovoltaic) and Patagonia (eolic)? Maybe the low local demand of energy may be a benefit for exporting stacked energy in the shape of hydrogen from water desalination electrolysis plants, specially considering that every in Chile is close to the coast. It's just the perfect industry for my country
@Phoenix042X Sunlight is free, so efficiency isn't so important. The important things are the cost of land, the capital cost of solar panels, and the interest rate. Half the efficiency for a quarter of the cost would be a good deal. Even though the Atacama is far south, the cost of land is low.
You're right - that's why they opened a solar thermal plant in the Atacama desert last year: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Dominador_Solar_Thermal_Plant
problem with getting hydrogen out of water (no matter what source the electricity comes from) is that when you burn the hydrogen in combustion or get electrical power from it in a fuel cell, is that you get even less energy out than you put in to get the hydrogen in the first place. You don't even break even.
Ivanpah Solar electric power system is name of the Heliostat based Thermal Installation ( 2 systems, a third in construction)
Gorzux Matthew, Mikko and Phoenix have a point. Without fresh water photovoltaic flat panels cannot be separated from accumulated dust. High temperatures reduce the efficiency of the cells. But there is a solution using power towers illuminated by heliostats. 2 very large installations are operational right on the border of California and Arizona next to interstate 15 in the desert. Thermal energy is collected by thousands of steerable mirrors (heliostats) and using steam turbines, generators feed the grid. At the wrong time of the day. So they use a molten salt storage system. But in Chile you can do much better using your idea of sending the electric power to the nearby coast and generate with hydrolysis hydrogen. Hydrogen is hard to transport, too voluminous. Here is what you can do: Collect from the cement industry the copious co2 produced and using the Sabatier reaction ,convert the co2 and the hydrogen to methane (natural gas) . Liquefy it at -162C and transport it by truck any where it is needed in compact form. Part of the product you can distribute in pipelines in gaseous form as natural gas, with some hydrogen added. Or using the Fisher-Tropsch process convert it to liquids (kerocene). Since this collection of co2 is desirable and Elon Musk is promoting this, he might finance such a system. The heliostat system erected in the Atacama desert can be simplified, because no storage is required. Hace mucho tiempo habia una guerra entre nosotros , Abaroa era nuestro heroe ( que se rinda su abuela!) Hoy tenemos que cooperar.
I have watched the desert dwellers work with solar panels. Deserts equal dust and sand. We are not there yet. Small set ups that are easily cleaned and maintained by the direct user seem to be a good option.
The Moroccan coast has winds coming from the Atlantic ocean cool and without much sand.
don’t underestimate the grasshopper storms in Africa.
We would need the solar farms to be distanced far enough apart so as one decreases power as the sun sets, the others take up the slack Because storing and moving energy is a nightmare
Intellectually we're headed in the correct direction with the ambition of dicovering an optimum system that's cheap to create, easy to maintain, and cost effective (surplus energy and profitability). We've already discovered so many that aren't useful for mass uses. (example: hydrogen, good for commercial/private, not appropriate for country residential usage). I love where we're going with the ideas floating around. Love that sht. I'd rather be in a room full of people discussing ideas on how to improve the lives of (locals, then neighbors, then international). Whatever method we decide on in the future, will hopefully be best for mankind as a whole and do as little damage to earth as possible. (that may just be idealistic). I do love when engineers start spitting out numbers and the massives (hopefully) realize, hrmm, that's not going to work. Lets keep trying. Excellent video! Was fun to watch, fun to learn from aswell. Keep it up!
This was an interesting and educational video on alternate energy .
This is all fascinating. On the surface if someone said to me "let's turn the Sahara into a giant solar plant" I would think it's a good idea. You bring up a lot of good points.
@Yusri Saadun That’s great. Woke energies don’t power anything.
@Harsimran Bansal That’s a joke. Solar + wind can’t power heavy machinery. Wind is a total failure. They break easily and the amount of energy they produce is a not good.
@moh mab Starving people steal all sorts of things but they're not the ones taking power plants hostage or tearing down power lines and scraping them. Stealing food is forgivable, only a true criminal steals a power plant.
@Len Gould that's his point, to a layman who has no knowledge of how solar actually works, "lots of land + lots of sun = big good solar power" kinda makes sense
Solar panels are the wrong tech to use. Too much waste and rare minerals needed. There is a better and easier way: Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector technology by CNIM - Concentrating solar power plant
There is a lot of good information about the requirements for large scale solar power generation in northern Africa for Europe in this video. Thank you. The name of the video and somewhat political interpretation tone of some of it were at odds with the facts presented. From those facts it appears there are no significant impediments to building this solution other than the scale of the investment and time to construct it. The tone of the video seems to try to hype controversy by stating straightforward requirements as though they are impractical, which they do not in fact appear to be.
9:57 Currently any large scale operation for solar voltaics should be around $0.25 all in per watt tops. The Chinese were dumping cheap solar panels for $0.09 /watt back in the day. So, yeah, $0.25 /watt operational capacity is reasonable, given all the additional (but repetitive techs).
This (Sahara Solar Panels) is an issue (sand/politics etc) I wondered about over thirty years ago when Solar Panels were first starting to be produced en-mass. As for sending electricity, there are alternatives; but too many concept thieves to placate the Luddites.
"We don't need massive plots of land to make them work" stated for solar panels. This is totally false and he confuses land multiple use with acreage required. They take vast acreage, and here in Palmdale/Lancaster, solar farms are never multiuse.
Rip Scandinavia on that first globe
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Here are US Citizens to. Maybe you should explain the term Scandinavia
@Jason Reed Pour les déchets nucléaires, pas de problème, la décharge est juste à côté, au Sud de la France, en Algérie/ Sahara/ Hoggar ,c'est stable du point de vue sismique et très riche aussi en Uranium.....c'est simple....non?
I live here... supposedly. You're right though, no one here ever said they're Scandinavian. 🤔
@Will Swift Uhh coal definitely affects you, more than the nuke plant.
Your hitting the nail on the head particularly with grass roots development = there are some things you are un aware of that could help that is in the average back yard- vacuum tubes are very effective even in apartments for hot water - small wind turbine is often good in rural conditions and complementary with solar and more than anything implementing water / electric technology into the system = water can be used as a battery when combined with the Tesla turbine developed 100 years ago in the form of cold steam that works on temperature/ pressure differential (if you can get your head around that)= is similar to how phases change works in a heat pump- the buy produce is distilled water- also using water via electrolytes to produce hho gas/ water gas / browns gas-that has many users (industry wise/ health wise agriculture and more - in short distances it can be turned back to electric and buy produce of pure water= most of these conditions are suitable for back yard situation particularly when done from basic design- is implemented into building design etc of storage and distribution = it works best on a small scale
In short, Solar Energy does have challenges, but it is doable if done on or near the cost lines. My state of Florida could be doing something similar. We have more sun than we know what to do with, and plenty of water.
I gotta say, when you listed *astronomical* numbers as 6 billion dollars I chuckled. A day of war between 2 large countries costs less. This is less than 10% of wealth of the wealthiest men on earth. These costs are literally nothing on a planetary scale.
What a calculations 1 sq.m. - 7kWhr a day? Fantastic efficiency close to 1,000%?
I live in Kenya and solar here is incredible since there is no true "winter", its only sunny and rainy season so there is not less sunlight or less sun hours around the year
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@grindupBaker Yes. I, too, have solar panels. They are very easy to clean, when they are your panels on your home. Solar panels lose generating capacity over the length of transmission. A solar panel on your roof will supply more power than one that's located on another continent. I'm not against solar, I have solar....but because I have panels, I know what they can and can not power. Building a solar farm that will power a home in another continent is extremely environmentally irresponsible. What effects will the cable have on the sea life? How will the panels be decommissioned at the end of their lifespan? No source of energy is really "green". What is the environmental impact vs. the amount of energy produced? That is the equation you must consider to determine what is environmentally responsible and what is simply exploitation of Africa.
If solar in Africa were as great as they claim, African people would have free energy.
@Real Engineering You’re still framing this as imperialism when it’s a win win for both continents. MENA earns a fortune from exporting Oil and will do the same with Solar. Local populations will be the first recipients of cheap solar electricity. This video was released a month before yours. Did you not know about this project? kzsection.info/green/bejne/z3uop7Gjn6JqanA.html
@Shawn Jones Will the rest of the world then get back the trillions of dollar they gave African countries as aid?
The technology just isn't there yet to make it cost-effective. Like we've been telling you for decades. 😂 I love when people "discover" something we knew a long time ago. 🤦♂
Australia spends 11.5 billion per year on fossil fuel subsidies for industry. In that context, a few hundred billions to build solar power infrastruxture for all of europe seems pretty reasonable
It's strange that if those mirrors get sand brushed after some time in a desert and if nobody has a "realistic" solution for that, the project continued.
Unfortunately panels output suffer in extreme heat... there are panels that perform better though and the industry has moved greatly toward being affordable. Storage of energy is the next great step
Nice to see a YT channel taking a broader, more realistic view of technological 'solutions' for a change.
European countries exploited TRILLIONS of dollars out of Africa = It was natural order of the world. European countries investing back a tiny percentage of that money back = It is TOO RISKY lets forget about it.. Then some ''geniuses'' wonder why exactly refugees and illegal immigrants trying to cross into Europe while it is because they think Europe is the reason why they are refugees and immigrants and they are absolutely right about that...
one of my professors calls engineering: the law of returning misery this channels shows why
Just amazes me how little people who support Solar/Wind technology actually know about it. The very best solar panels only capture a little over 30% of the sunlight that strikes the panels. 65 -70% is reflected back into space and wasted as the panels are of poor quality, manufactured as quickly as possible from the cheapest raw materials. Inferior panels are even less efficient than these technically better panels. All panels degrade by at least 5% per year and with an alleged 25 year life span (most need maintenance/replacement after 10-15 years) so you do not need to be an Einstein to understand they are operating at less than 50% efficiency after only 10 years. Solar is the biggest scam ever invented. Due to variable weather/dust storms and other natural events solar panels never achieve their expected capacity on a consistent basis throughout the day and due to this intermittency needed to have another reliable baseload power system such as Coal Fired or gas fired running in tandem 24/7. Then you have the problem that when the sun goes down they produce ZERO power so alternative sources must take over. It amazes me that there are people who believe solar works 24/7 when in fact it operates at an optimal level less than 6 hours per day. But you will never hear this from those who promote/support renewable energy. Add to this the fact that they require to be operated for 10-15 years before they offset the carbon released producing them they are the worst option with regards to producing clean power and without government subsidies for solar/wind and penalties imposed on coal and gas powered electricity solar would NEVER be used by any company producing electrical power. Even with massive subsidies whenever more renewables are added to the network electricity prices to the consumer rise giving a lie to the industries claim they are the cheapest form of energy. If you think that is a lie please tell me how much your power bill has reduced after they close coal fired/gas fired stations and add renewables. And tell me there are not more blackouts/burnouts or disruptions to power since renewables started to be added to your networks. Sadly, you have all been conned by business and governments for a more devious purpose but I will not elaborate here. Suffice to say any thinking person would NEVER obtain their power from anyone supplying renewable energy. If you can afford the panels and the batteries and can install enough to meet your needs 24/7 and still have excess then you will be able to generate your own power but if you rely on the grid for power you will simply pay more and more each year for a less reliable service each and every year.
I'm off-grid and use only solar. Mass production is fraught with problems that are nonexistent if done on an individual basis. Plus, I don't have to pay for public utilities or water. And no one else has any control over my basic needs.
0:46 Wow, the desert receives more energy per square meter than what the sun provides. How does that work? Here is a quote from the 'Solar Irradiance' wiki page; "This means that the approximately circular disc of the Earth, as viewed from the sun, receives a roughly stable 1361 W/m2 at all times". Therefore, it is impossible for any one place on Earth to receive more than 1.3kW/m2. Modern panels have a max input rating of 1kW/m2 and operate at 15 to 20% so a max output of 200W/m2. Then you must consider rain seasons and night time, using more panels so that the extra panels pump their electricity into large battery banks that are drawn from during such times. Then factor in a % of the panels being down for maintenance at any one time. You will need to cover the entirety of the desert (RIP ecosystem) to maybe reach the energy needs today. Never mind the fact that the global energy need is growing.
You would have to have a Grid with Superconducting Transmission Wire for this to work or move manufacturing close to the Solar Grid in Africa.
Generation tends to be the focus, while transmission and storage have enormous engineering challenges as well. But advances for both are coming, too.
Dios te bendiga y Dios bendiga a Todos los que estan leyendo esto! Deseo que tengan un hermoso dia! Buscad a Dios mientras pueda ser hallado! Jesus es el camino y el unico camino y regresa pronto! Recuerda cuando te sientas que no eres amado... el mayor sacrificio se hizo por amor! EL SUICIDIO NUNCA ES LA RESPUESTA! Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna. S. Juan 3:16 RVR1960 La paga del pecado es muerte (infierno) pero Cristo pagó nuestra deuda en la cruz para nuestra salvacion! Debemos volvernos a Dios y apartarnos de nuestros caminos pecaminosos, confesar que Jesús es el Señor y creer con nuestro corazón que fue resucitado de entre los muertos por Dios, y debemos de ser bautizados en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo y vivir por Su palabra y mandamientos! Confia que Dios ayudara con el resto! Busca a Dios, antes de que sea muy tarde! Hoy podria ser tu ultimo dia en la tierra! Que tengas un hermoso dia! -❗️❗️❗️
God bless you and God bless anyone reading this! Hope you have an awesome day! Seek him while you can! Jesus is the way and the only way and he is returning soon! Whenever you think you aren't loved... Remember the ultimate sacrifice was for love! ENDING YOUR LIFE IS NEVER THE ANSWER! For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV The wages of sin is death (hell) but Jesus paid our debt on the cross, for our salvation! We must turn to God and away from our sinful ways, Confess Jesus is Lord and believe with our hearts that he was risen from the dead by God, and we must be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit and live by His word and Commandments! Trust that God will help with the rest! Seek God today before it's too late! Today could be your last day on earth! Have a blessed day! ❗️❗️❗️❗️
@Dean Simmons All true however transmission and storage is still the holdup to broader use. I'm ALL for it of course, without these and other alternatives to fossil fuels we're going to be perpetually in trouble.
The 3rd generation solar cells are already here. They're twice as effective in low light and blue light spectrums, last three times as long in the sun, gather 60% more energy throughput the day, and are significantly more durable due to their solid copper backing. They've been available since 2013. 😊🌎☀️
@scout360pyroz hh
The Soviets had a liquid metal cooling system for one of their nuclear power plants and they allowed the liquid metal to solidify. It bricked the entire reactor.
I have never seen a KZsectionr transition from his video content into advertising so smoothly and effortlessly in my life. I'm very impressed! Great content too. 👌
Interesting. I thought the exact opposite.
Deliberately trying to hide what is an ad (like he's doing) is not cool. It's even illegal in EU btw.
I’m impressed that you are able to think that. Ha ha
This commendable debate piece should also consider long-distance transmission using superconductivity, especially subterranean employment of high-temperature superconductors cooled with cheap liquid nitrogen.
I'd LOVE a video about renewable energy storage issues, and I'm sure millions of others will too.
@Rome101yoav no silly first you try it here then move out to other systems if it works don't be a Dave and go out there to die jeese Dave think man think🤣🤣🤣
@Raven4K Definitely! When will we build a Dyson Sphere around Sagittarius A*?
makes you wonder if Africa's solar power generation rate is that high how high is a solar panel generate from space in say a microwave power station?🤔
As a Moroccan, I really hope for success of local electric production, it would be a gamechanger for the industry.
@FireFacts Europe is not a country
@William Stucke Toyota is Japanese. Car manufacturer he said, not car factory
In point of view, we must have a good relationship between 🇲🇦 Morocco and Algeria 🇩🇿 , and latest gas pipeline problems, maybe just a political way to press Europe, it's a big fake film between USA and Russia , against Europe
you guys have the largest solar plant in the world so their's some hope
@Simo Both Nigeria and Ghana manufacture cars, what are you talking about ?
7140 real engineers disliked this video for its inaccuracy 7140 real engineers that wouldn't get fired on the first day of their job for leaving out losses in their calculations
Wouldn't it be easier for independent countries to invest so their OWN people have solar panels on their houses and factories, offices, etc. so that it's energy efficient on an individual level? This way, the surplus of energy goes directly to the grid and the investment can be done in a much greater time frame.
Did you know that solar power energy comes out in DC already ? All you need to do is up the voltage. Also if the Chinese would come and build bridges at 0.8B per 35 km, with plastic roads, you'd have a bridge the length of 21.000 km, for the 480B estimate.That's enough to fill all parts of the UHVDC line with bridges, bridging the entire European continent with UHVDC lines.
Even if this is a hard task, combined green energies will have to be a must in some decades. Solar, wind, compostable garbage, different materials that keep heat inside homes, some nuclear, volcanic and many other materials that will help the planet are to be considered. My personal idea is that water will be a major problem in a nearer future. Draughts are showing so.
The Moltex molten salt nuclear reactor runs continuously while heating the same type of heat storing salt used in solar boilers. The heat is used to fill peaks in demand while the reactor runs continuously. Costs are cheaper than coal and you don’t need all the cabling of solar (any type) to connect the panels.
Molten salt nuclear especially the Moltex) is intrinsically safe. Temperature rise above normal reduces power output to zero well within acceptable limits. Temperature falling increases power from the reaction. It’s entirely self regulating. The coolant loop could be disconnected at full power and nothing bad will happen. The fuel is liquid so cannot suffer physical degradation or the internal pressure rise that stops solid nuclear fuel being fully used. The result is 99% fuel burn vs 4% burn in a PWR. This cuts the waste storage time by 1000x. The list of benefits is huge. The only reason it’s not been done before is the endemic engineering conservatism of the nuclear industry and regulators who move glacially slowly and cannot comprehend anything new.
Molten chloride salt is LESS corrosive than hot pressurised water. It’s also completely impervious to neutron radiation. This cracks water into hydrogen (which embrittles metals) and oxygen which corrodes metals.
@Drake Koefoed we don't know it's one of those known unknown of science. We know that these waste give of radiation which is a for of energy we can't use yet. Who knows we could get to the point where the waste becomes valuable. There's been talks about using it as batteries. But there's not enough resources available to push those type of research yet.
@Drake Koefoed the problematic waste needs to be stored for around 27 years. The waste which is stored for lets say 50000 years is nonproblematic, as long as you don inhale or eat it.
but what does it cost to store the waste 50k years? obviously this insane future cost is left out to make the numbers seem to work.
Fascinating and informative video. One missile into the centre of each cripples the entire output and the lights all go out everywhere... Hmmm..
Pv panels’ lifespan is about 15 years, the disposal of these panels- which contain heavy metals- is already becoming a hazardous waste nightmare. I can’t imagine the issues our children will have to deal with when large amounts of panels and battery storage hit end of life. It will be the next generation’s crisis.
Someday soon, one smart guy will construct a device converting gravity into any form of energy needed, also into electricity that we're so crazy about lately. Gravity is 24/7/365/everywhere/clean/100% natural/free/without side effects, thus its superiority is obvious. At some point we will take any matter, dissect it into its basic components and then put them together into desired atoms or even chemicals or ready complex products. Just like kids play with Lego Blocks. Using these two we'll be able to clean all the trash and toxic and radioactive stuff 'gifted' to posterity by previous subhumans and even straighten up our Planet, so that it's more livable and pleasurable for all creatures. Unless something better comes along before this advancement.
I haven’t read all of the comments so please forgive me if it has been covered. To my understanding seen in other videos the Amazon depends on winds carrying elements from the soil to the Amazon rain forest for it to survive, first would this be interrupted by doing this.
This was really really interesting. I’ve never heard of concentrated solar, sounded like an awesome concept until you explained the pitfalls. This is one thing, regardless of the environmental benefits that I like about the switch to renewables, because it gives the opportunities for much more countries to have their own energy independence and not rely on energy that comes from other parts of the world just for basic power needs which have primarily been the driver of wars and conflict. The entire world shouldn’t have to crap itself because a 30 mile wide body of water in the Middle East is being fought over by the United States and whoever.
@Ehbfunbcc Whjfhbhjxf Their have been several close calls in France only. They will actually denuclearise in the next decades, because they can't build new reactors fast enough to replace the old ones, so they will develop much more renewable energy. Another problem is France gets it's uranium from Niger, with very few care of the locals, or Niger itself (there has been some scandals recently). There is better ways to be energy independant.
Water is the next war.
@Ehbfunbcc Whjfhbhjxf On the topic of waste, uranium-235 decays into thorium during its fission, meaning it generates more fuel for other types of reactors. And, not all of the uranium gets "depleted", a rather low amount does, but it's too much for most active reactors. The good news on that, is that the remaining "spent" rods can be used in starting reactors and sustaining them until new full rods can be put in. And even after that, the depleted uranium is used in a lot of military things, like penetrators and armor. The total true waste produced in USA from the moment that we started research is extremely small, with a volume of only a football field size hole, roughly 2.5 meters deep.
CRUDE OIL PRICE IS VERY MUCH HIGH.IT SHOULD FALL TO 65$ TO 55$......
If you believe its that simple, you have not been paying attention. Follow the Money and the Power. Its all about Control . Be careful of what you wish for. Do you have any idea how much the USA tax payer money has been sent to these countries to help them. Yet, nothing has changed. Figure it out people before its too late. This current administration is a joke and does everything to destroy us. Good Luck Ya’ll !
the thought of DC lines running those voltages at those currents strikes fear into me. dc does not act like ac. it is furious. better we collect light and colimate it, bounce from a satellite, and use the beam to transmit both light and electricity down the plasma duct through the atmosphere
CSP is also vaguely "Clean", being actually somewhat Green. PV, as with Windmill Turbines, just hides the vast amount of pollution it requires to create the "clean energy" system in China. This is one reason why the actual lifespan cost is a much better metric for actual CSP vs. PV and windmills. PV, windmills, Li-Ion batteries, all absolutely filthy processes.
distributed solar, wind, hydro with local battery and interconnected like a web is a much better overall model. it can be built up slowly without running up against sunk cost and will function better overall plug in a few small nuclear plants here and there and the issue is pretty much moot
Hey !!! I worked on those glass pipes ! I wondered why the factory suddenly closed down 😂
I see a really awesome game like Factorio or a mod that focuses on electricity generation and distribution in a more complex and realistic way. This is fascinating stuff. Enough so that I feel I chose the wrong career.
@Y. T. I mean, I'm going by science and real world experience. You're going by absurd lies from the insane right wing. Who's naive? I mean, your thing about Germany and storage is a gross misrepresentation of the reality of clean safe reliable renewable energy, showing either arrogant ignorance, psychologically-determined ideological refusal to understand, or simple dishonesty. If you in the future give me any indication you're able and willing to comprehend and admit the truth I'll be happy to teach you about it and provide sources of more reliable information than you've apparently been trusting. I mean, your thing about peer review is a gross misrepresentation of science and peer review, and yet another lie being spread by the insane right wing as it tries to take over truth to exert even more control over the world. The fact that you're pointing out a person who tried to use peer review to publish what you're implying is garbage science (I mean, I haven't read it) might be considered a pretty good indication that the system works. I can point out other examples involving climate denial and ARFism that definitely indicate that, however imperfect the system is, as are all things created by humans, it works. So it's far, far more trustworthy than the nihilistic lunatic psychopaths you've been paying attention to. People actually wanting to know more about this can take U of Q's excellent free online course "Climate Denial 101". Concentrate especially on the video lessons on "consilience" there or find them at the Skeptical Science website.
@J you're staggeringly naive. If you want to depend on renewables in Germany, you'd need something like a 2-5 Terawatthours of storage. Cost aside, at the moment installing such energy storage would require about something like 5-10x total *worldwide* yearly production of all lithium ion batteries. In many specialties, anyone in academia can write anything and all it a 'study'. And get it peer reviewed. Look at the career of Diederik Stapel. Dozens and dozens of papers, over a decade.
@Y. T. I mean, Except we know it does work in the real world. When one gets past the all-too-common ARF (anti-renewable fanatic) tactic of serially isolating each source of clean safe reliable renewable energy, magnifying its imperfections, "forgetting" its advantages, and attacking it as if the others didn’t exist, one finds out they all work fantastically together. I mean, the hocketed mix of clean safe reliable renewable energy provides most of the electricity for at least 65 countries; at least 24 of them are at or near 100%. Dozens of studies show there are numerous paths to 100% clean safe reliable renewable energy for the world and almost every country. (Some tiny ones haven't been studied separately.) And since they’re science, and peer-reviewed, it makes sense to me to pay them more attention than a game. Even if it’s go.
@J I mean, if a system doesn't really work that well under wildly optimistic conditions, what hope is there in the real world ?
@Y. T. Yes, because the place to learn about the real world is a wildly inaccurate game.
When you think of the Trillions spent worldwide every year on the War Industry (AKA the "Defence Industry") this does not seem very expensive. Most of the costs are "one-off" infrastructural costs. (Most of the railway lines, bridges and tunnels built in the 19th century are still in daily use.) Cheap photovoltaics can be used instead of the outdated mirror collectors. The main problem with North Africa is that it is a dangerous and volatile War Zone. War Zones are not good Investment Zones.
Hey !!! I worked on those glass pipes ! I wondered why the factory suddenly closed down 😂
I can remember this was shortly after the 21-st century had started, a big project had been announced - to build a huge photovoltaic in Africa. All Germans should invest money for the future green energy! Unexpectedly the Russian Rubel came into the pockets of the government people. The whole photovoltaic project immediately disappeared from the tables and no one wanted to say even one word about. Underwater pipeline from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany should solve all the energy problems of Europe.
The fact you mentioned Imperialism makes this video far better. You nailed it. That is the crux of it all. The developed nations engage in resource predation and export our waste to the same nations we steal from. The developed nations can save themselves on their own soil, but choose not to. But long term storage and energy transfer are decades behind. We can easily produce the energy necessary to power the planet, we fail to use it effectively as well as store and transfer it. In 2019 alone the USA lost roughly 68% of its energy produced simply from energy loss from transfers. We have the produce 3x times as much to meet demand, thus pushing pollution from out 80% fossil fuels to triple production. Nuclear energy (Gen IV Fission) and eventually Fusion should be the backbone with wind and solar being the supplementary energy sources for localities. The push for solar as the king, as well as Wind, is a marketing and political farce to delegitimize the safest form of energy production... Nuclear. But in large, this is an outstanding video that earned its thumbs up simply by the fact that you saw the bigger picture. Predation of the Industrialized/Developed Nations. We can help build a better future without having to steal. Helping others within reason. A Global Government is not necessary, we can be a collective of different ideas and still work together.
it could be practical though to spread probably largely decentralized solar power systems (like for one household or one village) through desert and desert-adjacent inhabited areas to replace wood and charcoal for cooking, and also provide some electricity for electronic devices to aid in education etc.. I hear areas like the sahel have long had a problem with trees being cut down for firewood, when they are desperately needed to hold off desertification and graze goats and such. countering desertification locally by use of solar power probably wouldn't make a difference for the climate, but it would help to reduce the displacement of people in those areas, which is generally going to be a huge worldwide problem in the coming decades. it would also be nice in that it would empower poor people, whereas the plans to export african solar power to europe would as usual benefit corporations and corrupt officials. well, the solar power would probably also be routed to some nearby cities, but certainly not to villages in the middle of nowhere.
@Sunny A It doesn't imply that and you again fail to notice globalism as a phenomenon is a consequence, not a goal. It's like going for a jog. You do that to get fit, not to sweat. Stop running and you may stop sweating. If the US withdraws, globalism goes down. For the simple fact that trade security will go back to regional powers. It has nothing to do with the military being puppets of a globalist agenda. I don't imply that or believe that at all. Their affiliation is absolutely irrelevant the relevance here is the action. Stop putting cause and effect out of order, that's how you make a conspiracy over natural progressions. I do believe there are people who profit from and take advantage of the phenomenon but I disagree wholly on the notion that "they" have a causal effect of it.
@Carlos Leon Your comment implies that every faction within the US military is pawns for globalist. Which is NOT true. There are very benevolent, intelligent, and amazing soldiers serving in the US military. To generalize their withdrawal from the world as a mean to an end of globalism is quite assumptive and inaccurate.
@mjolnir A battery bank would be the easiest however a water tower with pump and turbine would also be highly useful since it could store water in the tower during daylight and let it out at night to run the turbine as part of normal water usage
mjolnir batteries. maybe just lead acid for chwap weak setups, or perhaps repurposed lithium ion batteries that no longer hold enough charge for electric vehicles, but would still work for stationary use.
CRUDE OIL PRICE IS VERY MUCH HIGH.IT SHOULD FALL TO 65$ TO 55$......
I have yet to hear a decent reason for why we are choosing solar and wind despite those many obvious downsides over nuclear.
For long range electricity lines, look at Quebec. We are the first to make 765kW lines. Our biggest barrages are like 500km away from us
Don't pan sounds in KZsection videos to that extreme, on most phones stereo is achieved by having right pan come from the phone speaker, which is barely audible. Entirely panning to the right means that most phone users will barely be able to understand whatever's said - especially if you have music panned on far left
As a Moroccan citizen i really hope to see my country making huge steps towards this, and fix issues they facing esp the huge water consumption and be able to produce enough electricity to power the country and eventually an energy exporter !
@Waqas Ahmed The wealthier Arab nations are very far away, much further than Europe, and they have deserts and sun too. I think 2 steps are relevant: 1. Morocco can become independent of fuel imports. 2. Morocco can become a part of the European power grid. Selling and buying whatever is needed.
Even if you can't export to Europe, I'm sure Morocco could export to other wealthier Arab nations.
@L R dafaq? Shut the heell up what does that has to do with anything?
@John Slugger You are waisting the time of us all, and you try to paddle falsehoods. It is good I was there to correct you.
@Karsten Schuhmann Your a waste of my time.
My question regarding solar is how long do the panels last, especially given the wind-blown sandy environment, and when the panels require replacing, what happens to the waste? There is a hell of a lot of heavy metals in solar panels. Who pays for the clean-up, or is it left to the poor African countries to deal with?
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@Martha Tjarks where do you get theses figures, 80% at fifty years .?
@Marduk After so many years of reading & hearing the same smug, self-righteous right wing deception & delusion leading the world into chaos, suffering, and destruction just because of their mental illness, my tolerance has been sandblasted away. 15 years ago I would have been much nicer, as I am in real life, as I called Marduk on his or her bullshit.
@J So your plan is to be so disingenuous and annoying I have no choice but to leave? I pity whatever poor soul has to tolerate your existence in the real world.
@Isaac Groen the PV industry is so new, and panels last so long, that very few have needed it til now. There are finally an increasing number in need of recycling, and companies and systems are rising to the challenge. We should recycle every one, and can, by appropriate government action.
For the distribution of elctricity, can the power be microwaved up to satalites and from there down to recieving stations around the globe?
@Shivumgrover You then also run into the problem of the weight of the wire itself. The longer it is the more mass it has until eventually it would be so heavy it would snap due to earth's gravity. It would require some type of wireless transfer to get power from orbit down to the surface.
@River Shen i read somewhere that solar farms in space can collect 14 times more energy. So if we dropped a wire down from the farm to the earth, there will be atleast a 50% drop in power? Probably far more because the distance would be much larger than bw algeria and German. So maybe 80% loss of power? That's not very nice. And if we send it using microwaves, there will be even higher losses? Is it even worth it right now?
@Mark Terpstra the power loss from cables is meaningless in comparison to losses over air. There has never been an industrial scale demonstration/trial of such an technology. Cables are getting better and better. At the moment there is around 50% loss going from Algeria to Germany (idk about losses from underwater cables so I assume the same numbers as overground)
@Phoenix042X There is a lot of power lost in cables too. I appreciate your insight.
Atmospheric diffusion is the problem there; made worse by the second return trip through the atmosphere from space. That being said, this idea is not without merit in the long term, if the solar panels themselves are simply in space and the microwaves are beamed only once through the atmosphere to the ground to stations across the globe. We don't so much have to worry about the loss of energy to the atmosphere, because as long as the sun is there, the supply is endless. This largely eliminates the problems of the panels getting dirty, being on the wrong side of the planet (at night), land exploitation at the expense of developing countries, and the transmission through potentially contentious territories. The primary problems at this point are that weather over the microwave reception sites will always be a thing and the overall cost/the lack of (relatively) inexpensive heavy lift vehicles to space... but hopefully that one will be solved in the next five years or so (SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc. breaking the ice there).
Does someone know how much photovoltaik in marocco produces in the critical months december, january and february (in comparsion to summer)? In these months in germany, they unfortunately produce almost nothing.
Why is the reflective heat from solar installations never mentioned as a contributor to atmospheric heating?
Make aluminum and transport that - surely there are some reasonable aluminum deposits somewhere across the Sahara, and if they have high silicon content then use that to make more panels. Much easier to trade aluminum to Asia and the Americas, and aluminum metal is extremely efficient energy storage.
As someone who grew up in West Africa, it will come down government officials and how honest they are. Corruption even in the countries that are doing well (Ghana for example) is still present. Ask any Ghanaian about ECG (the Electricity Company of Ghana…also known as “Electricity Come and Go”).
Also the government is not a producer of solar tech. It's mainly private companies and university researchers. Look to the business sector.
when electricity is literally money there is no "corruption" to be had in the matter. It will be in the politicians best interest to make more electricity.
You will never get a grassroots solar energy buildup no matter what country or government system you use. Solar energy is prohibitively expensive and only exist because of government subsidies and a complete neglect in environmental standards when producing in China. A huge industrial base is needed to make all those panels and a huge investment that can only come from governments is needed to start the projects. Why should any government invest in Africa when the African governments have no safeguards to protect the project?
Dumsor is real. As Ghanaians we need to stop looking at our corrupt government for solutions. The solutions will come from us the people not the politicians.
@VerveTech East Legon in Accra. Maybe the government/companies have changed their practices since 2005-2012ish, but for a long time, it was 24 hours of electricity, 24 hours off. We spent so much money on fuel for the generator. How can you export power to neighboring countries when sections of your own capital city goes without power?
Are these problems more insoluble than the ones that were overcome in the Manhattan project or the Moon landings?