Saudi battles heat, dust to build solar power, save oil

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=508171&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Saudi battles heat, dust to build solar power, save oil[/font]

Reuters/Riyadh/Dammam

[font size=3]Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, may finally be getting serious about overcoming the technical and financial hurdles for tapping its other main resource: sunshine.

Thousands of solar power panels have sprung up across Europe over the past few years, thanks to generous subsidies that make the technology an attractive alternative to conventional energy.

Saudi Arabia too, wants to generate much more solar power as it lacks coal or enough natural gas output to meet rapidly rising power demand.

…

This month, KA-CARE set forth a much more ambitious plan, recommending that the kingdom aim to get more than a third of its peak-load power supply, or about 41 gigawatts (GW), from the sun within two decades at an estimated cost well over $100bn.

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[bloomington-lib]

1. They have a 100bn now. Why does it take two decades?

Their unemployment % would nose dive if they commit to reaching their 41GW goal earlier.




Somewhat related: IBM’s New Solar Desalination Tech Could Create Rivers in the Desert

Read more: IBM's New Solar Desalination Tech Could Create Rivers in the Desert
http://inhabitat.com/ibm-saudi-researchers-team-up-on-solar-powered-desalination-technology/

"Living in the desert comes with major advantages and disadvantages — excess solar power and not enough water, to be more specific. Now IBM and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology are teaming up to solve the water problem with solar-powered desalination technology. Eventually, the two organizations hope to construct a desalination plant in Al Khafji, Saudi Arabia that can harness sunlight to generate 7.9 million gallons of water daily — enough for 100,000 people."

[thelordofhell]

2. Don't get high off your own supply

The drug dealer mantra

[JDPriestly]

3. Solar is the least intrusive energy source from an environmental point of view.

I think that solar for the moment is just one of a number of alternative energy sources that will be used, but that the long-range future of energy lies with solar.

We may discover new ways to produce and store the energy we obtain from the sun. That is really what I expect. We have not invested enough in the development of solar energy. This should be our top priority.