NewEnergyNews: CNN’S SOLAR SUMMARY/

NewEnergyNews

Gleanings from the web and the world, condensed for convenience, illustrated for enlightenment, arranged for impact...

The challenge now: To make every day Earth Day.

YESTERDAY

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT WEDNESDAY, August 23:

  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And The New Energy Boom
  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And the EV Revolution
  • THE DAY BEFORE

  • Weekend Video: Coming Ocean Current Collapse Could Up Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Impacts Of The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current Collapse
  • Weekend Video: More Facts On The AMOC
  • THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 15-16:

  • Weekend Video: The Truth About China And The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Florida Insurance At The Climate Crisis Storm’s Eye
  • Weekend Video: The 9-1-1 On Rooftop Solar
  • THE DAY BEFORE THAT

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 8-9:

  • Weekend Video: Bill Nye Science Guy On The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: The Changes Causing The Crisis
  • Weekend Video: A “Massive Global Solar Boom” Now
  • THE LAST DAY UP HERE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 1-2:

  • The Global New Energy Boom Accelerates
  • Ukraine Faces The Climate Crisis While Fighting To Survive
  • Texas Heat And Politics Of Denial
  • --------------------------

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    Founding Editor Herman K. Trabish

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    WEEKEND VIDEOS, June 17-18

  • Fixing The Power System
  • The Energy Storage Solution
  • New Energy Equity With Community Solar
  • Weekend Video: The Way Wind Can Help Win Wars
  • Weekend Video: New Support For Hydropower
  • Some details about NewEnergyNews and the man behind the curtain: Herman K. Trabish, Agua Dulce, CA., Doctor with my hands, Writer with my head, Student of New Energy and Human Experience with my heart

    email: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

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      A tip of the NewEnergyNews cap to Phillip Garcia for crucial assistance in the design implementation of this site. Thanks, Phillip.

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    Pay a visit to the HARRY BOYKOFF page at Basketball Reference, sponsored by NewEnergyNews and Oil In Their Blood.

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  • WEEKEND VIDEOS, August 24-26:
  • Happy One-Year Birthday, Inflation Reduction Act
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 1
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 2

    Friday, October 05, 2007

    CNN’S SOLAR SUMMARY

    It's such an appealing idea -- all the free energy we need, right up there in the sky. But it's not quite that simple -- yet. Worth working toward, nevertheless.

    All About: Solar Energy
    Rachel Oliver, October 1, 2007 (CNN)

    WHO
    The sun

    There is a lot of room for solar energy development. (click to enlarge)

    WHAT
    Solar energy has enormous potential but has yet to overcome several longstanding barriers.

    WHEN
    2007: solar, wind and geothermal combined only account for around 1% of world electricity (BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2007) and solar is 0.039% of world electricity (International Energy Agency (IEA)).

    WHERE
    - The sun is at the center of this solar system, a star in a vast galaxy of possibility and darkness.
    - The US gets 0.01% of its electricity from solar and Germany produces 50% of current world solar energy but that makes up less than 7% of Germany’s electricity.

    WHY
    - Greenpeace says the sun can provide 10,000 times the world’s daily need for electricity.
    - The Union of Concerned scientists says 20 days of sun matches all the world’s coal, oil and natural gas supplies.
    - Problem 1: Intermittency. What do you do when the sun doesn’t shine? Much work is being done with storage. Batteries and other methods of converting solar electricity into something storeable.
    - Problem 2: Space. US electricity would require photovoltaic cells over 150,000 square kilometers. (But the US is 3.7 million square miles.) A Rockefeller University report said a hectare of solar cells = 1 liter of nuclear core reactor fuel. (But the hectare doesn’t generate any radioactive waste.)
    - 4% of the world’s deserts covered with solar cells could meet the world’s electricity needs – but might represent a too-tempting terrorist target. And making/installing that many solar cells would require a massive infrastructure (like tearing the tops off mountains to get at the coal?)
    - Growth so far has been constrained by required materials (silicon, plastic) and infrastructure (plants, installation sites).
    - Home installations are limited by costs homeowners are unwilling to take on, even with government incentives and rebates. (China exports 90% of its solar cell production b/c its people cannot afford to install them.)

    Concentrating systems using parabolic mirrors for heating liquids piped through to drive steam generators may make it possible to store and transmit solar energy. (click to enlarge)

    QUOTES
    - United Nations Environment Report: “…an area of 640,000 square kilometers [in the Sahara Desert] could provide the world with all of its electricity needs (the Sahara is more than 9 million square kilometers in size).”
    - Friends of the Earth: “…the solar Photovoltaic industry is now the fastest growing renewable energy technology on earth, showing a market growth of 60 percent between the years 2000-2004.”
    - The World Bank: “…the global market for solar electricity will be worth $4 trillion in 30 years.”
    - Greenpeace/European Photovoltaic Industry Association: “…solar power will be able to power 2 billion people's lives by 2030.”

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