Originally Posted By: Kuato
It's not a question of can IMO, but if or perhaps when.
The technology & resources do exist for such a project these days, no doubt. However, does it make sense? What are the costs? And not just the construction, but maintainence? Is North Africa stable enough politically? Doubtfull. There is a reason HVAC is used instead of HVDC in long distance transmission lines. That was figured out more than a 100 yrs ago. These amongst many other considerations, and limitations, both natural and man-made. Politics being a rather large one...
Originally Posted By: Kuato
The technology, ability and resources exist to power the entire world without polluting. If only people could discard their prejudice and hatred to work together.
That's quite a statement!! Very simple to type, but most difficult to prove. Further, I doubt anyone could actually afford it. This is where dreamer plans usually run head-first into the reinforced concrete of Reality and Natural Law, not to mention Mother Nature.
On the other side, you don't build something like this in a politically unstable region like the Middle East. There is a lot of hatred and homocidal maniacs there. It's difficult to change the hearts and minds of the heartless and mindless. Recent history is full of examples.
Originally Posted By: Kuato
One example:http://cleantechnica.com/2011/12/14/solar-energy-from-the-sahara-desert-could-power-the-world-but-will-it/
Quote:
is a set of plans for a massive network of solar and wind farms stretching across the Mena region and intended to connect to Europe via high voltage direct current transmission cables (which are supposed to only lose 3% of their electricity per 1000km, or 620 miles).
Although Desertec has been widely regarded as nothing more than an unattainable dream for most of its history, it’s been gaining some momentum over the past two years.
Paul Van Son, Dii’s CEO, claims the project is international in nature. According to the Guardian, he said: “Yes, the initiative came from Germany. But there are 15 different nationalities involved, including companies such as HSBC and Morgan Stanley. This is just the start.” [
I didn't realize that HSBC and Morgan Stanley were nationalities.....since when?]
One of the difficulties in maintaining CSPs is the harsh desert itself; while damaging sandstorms are relatively rare, the troughs must be tilted away from the wind if it reaches a certain speed. Bodo Becker, operations manager at a German company specializing in building CSP plants designed for desert use, says that if the troughs are not moved away from high winds, they act like giant sails. (That’s definitely not good for the equipment.)
Keeping the troughs clean isn’t easy, either; dry cleaning technology is being developed, but it doesn’t quite work yet.
Currently, water is used both to cool the heat transfer fluid and clean the array. It’s a lot of water, according to Becker, as reported by the Guardian:
“Due to the dusty conditions, we are witnessing about 2% degradation every day in performance, so we need to clean them daily. We use about 39 cubic meters [10,300 gallons] of demineralized water each day for cleaning across the whole site.”
The total cost of completing the project is a barrier, too – it’s currently estimated at over $500 billion USD.
A number of recent climate conference attendees focused on the question of how Desertec could be financed; EU subsidies, tariffs added to European energy bills, and bank loans were all the subject of speculation.
Among other problems not mentioned is sand-blasting of the parabolic reflectors. And, demineralized water is far from "regular" water out of the tap...
Finally, Kuato: You need to figure out why Chernobyl doesn't belong with the other two reactors you mentioned. Not even close....
