The idea of using solar (or geothermal) energy and seawater to mass-produce green hydrogen by electrolysis, burn it and add gravity to generate a surplus of electricity and freshwater, even far from shore (which desalination cannot do), is feasible, practical and necessary. Indeed, it is a seismic proposal, in more … Continue reading
Category Archives: Environment
What’s More Efficient, a Single Large Generator at the Bottom of a Mountain, or a Series of Smaller Cascading Generators?
Answer: It’s generally more efficient to have a single, larger generator at the bottom of the mountain than a series of smaller cascading generators. Here’s why: However, there are some potential advantages to a cascading system in specific situations: In Conclusion: While there might be specific niche scenarios where a … Continue reading
How Much Land Needed to Install a Solar Plant with a Capacity of 11.1 GW?
Question: Assuming that virtually unlimited flat land is available in a desolate desert, how many square kilometers would be required to install a solar plant with a capacity of 11.1 GW? Answer: Here’s an estimate of the land area required for an 11.1 GW solar plant, along with some important … Continue reading
How Much Solar to Produce 611,800,000,000 kg of Hydrogen/Year?
Question: Given: a recent breakthrough of researchers at the University of Adelaide has yielded an electrolysis process that is 100% efficient with a catalyst that prevents the anode and cathode from decay; the amount of hydrogen desired is 611,800,000,000 kg per year; the temperature of the seawater is 60 degrees … Continue reading
Required Number of Rooftops Equipped With Solar Panels to Produce 611,800,000,000 kg of Hydrogen
The first step in this estimation is access the Global Solar Atlas; click on the specific location and look for ‘specific photovoltaic power output’, or PVOUT. This estimates the annual productivity of solar panels for a given location, measured in kilowatt-hours generated per kilowatt of peak capacity (kWh/kWp). For purposes … Continue reading
Hydrogen Needed to Replace the California & Colorado Aqueducts
Southern California’s Water Most of southern California’s water is imported. The California Aqueduct delivers up to 4.2 million acre-feet, the Colorado River Aqueduct 3,069.6 acre-feet, and the Los Angeles Aqueduct 275,000 acre-feet, for a combined total of 4,478,069.6 acre-feet of water per year. Since 1 acre-foot = 1233.5 m3, 4,478,069.6 … Continue reading
Cost of Pumping Water in California
The cost to pump water over vast distances is enormous. For example, California’s State Water Project relies on a series of pump stations to carry water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the southern part of the state. The most powerful, Edmonston Plant, requires 14 gigantic pumps with a combined … Continue reading
Water, Hydrogen, Real Estate & the Dollar
Background It is indeed remarkable the propensity of our esteemed decision makers to ignore scientists’ warnings. Case in point, the March 1912 issue of Popular Mechanics correctly predicted that coal burning would accumulate carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and cause a greenhouse effect. Did the industrialized countries heed? The answer … Continue reading
Poverty, Inequality, and Hydrogen
“Unlike some other calculations, those relating to poverty have no intrinsic value of their own. They exist only in order to help us make them disappear from the scene…. With imagination, faith and hope, we might succeed in wiping out the scourge of poverty even if we don’t agree on … Continue reading
Complications
The facts have ominous overtones. As of the end of 2020 proven crude oil reserves in the U.S. amounted to 38.2 billion barrels, or about 4.89 times annual consumption. Thus, excluding unproven reserves and imports, the U.S. has about 5 years left of domestic oil at current consumption levels. In … Continue reading