>The red squares represent the area that would be enough for solar power plants to produce a quantity of electricity consumed (as of 2005) by the world, the European Union (EU-25) and Germany (De). To replace all energy consumption (not just electricity), areas about 5 times as large would suffice. Data provided by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), 2005.
inb4:
>but muh distance
HVDC - high voltage direct current. 3% loss per 1000 km, already in use in Europe, Canada, China, and Brazil; the latter two have several 2000 km long lines. From Benghazi to Berlin you would lose less than 15%.
>but muh power at night
With solar-thermal power plants, you can store thermal energy in heat tanks. Such a power plant recently achieved a 24-hour persistent production in Spain.
>but muh geopolitics
The Arabian countries become warmer each year and are net food importers. They are already VERY dependent on the west, for food, technology, and military.
>what about other places
China has the Taklamakan desert. Russia has the Central Asian deserts. US has Mexico and deserts of its own.
>but Thori-
It will never work. It is science fiction, while what I'm talking about is literally current technology. It's just that coal and petrol are too cheap at the moment. Nuclear isn't safe to use on most of the world. If advanced countries like Japan, US, and Russia can fuck up (and I don't care if it was laziness or politics) then imagine what a clusterfuck places like Africa, South America, India, Indonesia, and Turkey would be. We will be having an annual nuclear emergency.
Thanks for reading my blogpost.