Comment Re:Greentech! (Score 1) 552
it is entirely possible to transmit power efficiently over long distances
The same "not in my backyard" argument that resisted cell towers is politically holding back adding the extra transmission capacity to connect solar farms to cities. Let me know if you need citations.
Moreso, I've read that the challenge of solar/wind in terms of harvesting the energy at sites in the middle of nowhere is storing the power for more than a few hours in case it gets cloudy or the wind calms down. Whereas all the other sources of energy can be controlled based on an input variable that's controlled by human interaction, wind and solar have completely external dependencies.
As far as you calling my comment stupid... you must have missed the overaching point that I was trying to make that solar panels don't generate very much energy based on the amount of space and resources they use. The key for solar is installing it in an area where space is a negligible consideration. Further... I think installing 100,000 acres of solar farms somewhere in the desert and then transmitting that power to a city would have unforeseen environmental effects because sand and solar panels have different heat absorption properties and it wouldn't surprise me if this cause negative weather effects.
Like I indicated... right now solar and wind are good rural and suburban options for roof installation. And that's significant. I'm not saying don't do solar. I'm just saying the technology doesn't currently exist to do it on a massive scale where it would make a dent in the national energy consumption requirements.