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pete the pirate
Lv 5
pete the pirate asked in EnvironmentGreen Living · 1 decade ago

Is it practical to use deserts to generate solar power, using the electricity to create hydrogen for export.?

Deserts are 'waste land' not good for much, but they do have a lot of energy coming down from the sun. They are usually too far away from cities to make transmission of the power worthwhile, but, if they were used to make a useful transportable energy source (hydrogen?) on the spot, it seems to me large amounts of pollution free transportable energy could be generated from the sun, using 'worthless' land. Transportation of the end product is another question, but in some parts of the world, deserts are close to oceans meaning the product could be shipped.

Update:

The point is that transmitting power by power lines has a limited range due to the loss over distance. If it were possible to use the solar power to make a transportable product that could be converted back to energy day or night, that would be a large step forward.

6 Answers

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  • Dentist
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    this is not a new idea

    http://www.csptoday.com/reports/trec_white_paper.p...

  • Dr weasel
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Can be done, but it isn't really cost effective. It takes power to create Hydrogen and then it has to be compressed, stored and shipped. It is a hazardous cargo and that means extra precautions, trucking, special routes, etc... By the time it reaches the market, it would be very expensive.

    Transmission lines are already up. Thousands of miles of transmission lines already connect the states in a massive electrical grid. Oregon sold power to California during it's power shortage.

  • ?
    5 years ago

    More and more people are going solar now. Out in these deserts is not much life so no call for it in the deserts apart from a few isolated places.

  • Andre
    4 years ago

    Build Home Solar Power - http://solarpower.duebq.com/?Wdc

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  • LMurray
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    Good idea. We need more, lots more. One problem is you need lots of water, not much in the desert.

  • nur
    1 decade ago

    it is practical if u think it is practical enough. u can implement this if u want in order to help the environment. i agree with u 100%

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