Sahara Desert Not a Viable Source of Solar Power

Sahara Desert Not a Viable Source of Solar Power

In one of my last posts I talked about the math behind using solar power. In the end I concluded that the Sahara Desert could power the earth 211 times over. After sending out this link to a lot of family and friends the number question/objection I received back was, "But putting solar panels in the Sahara Desert is really impractical." I would first like to say that the Sahara Desert was just a comparison point to show that even with a small fraction of the available land mass (all continents have unused deserts) we can power the world.

Now it is quite true that putting a lot of solar panels in the Sahara Desert is very impractical. As my Uncle Steve said, "Who the heck are you going to get to work in the middle of the blazing hot desert?!" And as my sister said, "But how are you going to get all the power all the way back to America?"

But this brings up a very interesting and critical point: this is exactly what we are doing in Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia this very day. There are apparently many people willing to work in the blazing hot deserts to set up oil wells, and refining stations. Furthermore we are shipping millions of barrels of the oil all the way across the ocean in giant ships. I will also point out that several ships have unfortunately crashed or been sunk in the recent past releasing their cargo onto the beaches of Spain and Alaska (to name a few) creating some of the worst ecological disasters on record.

So even though I do believe that covering the Sahara in solar panels is a bad idea, I also think it's paradoxical that most of the public would react with a similar objection, "It's just too impractical!" We are already going to greater trouble to get oil out of the ground than it would take to install panels in the Sahara and run cables across the Atlantic. Clearly, the best solution is to install high efficiency solar capturing devices on businesses and homes across the world thus eliminating the need for a large scale electrical grid and placing the "power" back in the hands of the people.

update: Since posting the original article 5 minutes ago I read the comments from my friend Ray who says that in China they have cool technology such as: electic bicycles, solar hotwater (he hasn't paid a dime for hot water since he moved there he says), and toilets that flush with the option of 1 liter (for a #2) and half a liter (for a #1). Go China!

A False Dilemma Between Water and Energy?

A False Dilemma?

This article in the Christian Science Monitor points out the growing concern in the US Southwest about water shortages. While droughts in the desert are nothing new, the concern is that water usage by electric utilities accounts for about 60 percent of all non-farm water usage. In a region that is growing by leaps and bounds this could be a problem. As more people move in, more electricity is demanded, thus more water to produce the electricity is required. But let's not forget that we drink water and bathe in it, wash our cars and water our lawns with it too.

So how do we produce enough electricity to maintain our lifestyles while keeping enough water available to drink, shower, bath and keep all the little animals who also need water happy? Well, if you read my previous post, you will know my opinion. Solar power! The sun provides us very close to free energy. All we have to do is catch it!

The Mathematics of Free Energy

The Mathematics of Free Energy

Some would note that I am a bit idealist about getting off the grid and Green energy. Some might say it's impossible and rather impractical. However, I believe that the mathematics behind it really "adds up". Here's a look at the arithmetic behind it all.

First the energy usage of the world per year: from ecoworld.com we have the following estimated energy usage in 1995:

316,000,000,000,000,000 BTU = 92,614,302,461,899 KW hrs

The math: The sun pumps out 1.3 KW hrs/m^2 of energy in outer space. The actual sunlight hitting the earth's surface varies throughout the year but let's say it averages 40% of the outer space value (which is a little on the low end). The earth has a land area of about 148,939,100 km^2. If we can harness that energy at 50% efficiency (high for existing technologies), then the following tells us how much energy we can catch in one hour on average.

1.3 (kW hrs/m^2)*1000000 (m^2/km^2)*148,939,100 (km^2) * .50 (efficiency) * .4 (amount reaching earth) = 38,724,166,000,000 kW hrs

More simple math shows that in only 2 hours the earth receives enough energy to power it for the rest of the year.

However let's say that we wished to avoid covering the whole earth in solar panels (after all I do like the green grass and nice trees...the minimum land area that we would need to produce to catch the energy required in one year would be:

Lmin = 92,614,302,461,899 KW hrs/(1.3 (KW hrs/m^2)*1000000 (m^2/km^2)* .50 (efficiency) * .4 (amount reaching earth) *24 (hrs/day)*365 (days/year)) = 40663 km^2

Thus with only .02 % of the earth's available land (or presumably oceanic) surface we could generate enough energy to totally power the earth for a year. Even if you factor in an extra 50% energy usage growth since 1995 and another 50% for future usage we would still only need to cover less than .05% of the earth in solar panels.

To put this in perspective, covering the otherwise unused Sahara desert (86,000,000 km^2) with solar panels would generate enough power each year to power 211 earths.

The proof is in the numbers, there is absolutely no reason to keep paying for oil, nuclear or anything else. Let's put up some solar panels, or windmills or invent something even better!

Why I want to Live off the Grid - Part II, Not Living in the Stone Age

Why I want to Live off the Grid - Part II, Not Living in the Stone Age

When it comes to the practicalities of living off the grid there are many options, and just as many enthusiasts willing to help. The Internet is home to a growing community of DIY green enthusiasts who's advice the off-gridder will most appreciate. A Good starting place is Treehugger.com.

Thoreau's explains in his classic book Walden that the bare minimum a person needs to live a comfortable life is enough food to survive, clean water and a basic shelter that provides protection from the environment. All else, he says, merely allows someone to die in excess comfort. To Thoreau's requirements I add that it is imperative to have an energy resource. For off-grid purposes it must be renewable and as independent as possible.

But where to start? Let's start with a basic inventory our modern lifestyle.

Electricity - Electricity the activity of electrons that is wired into our houses at 110-120 Volts, and alternates current at a rate of 60 times per second. In England and most the world, electricity is set to 220-230 Volts, and alternates current 50 times per second. Solar Panels generally produce electricity at either 12 or 24 Volts and does not alternate current. In order to transform Solar Powered electricity to household electricity an inverter is necessary. Inverters are complicated, see wikipedia.org. Interestingly electrons in electricity move at the speed of light, however the common notion that electricity "flows" through your house is actually incorrect. Electrons can drift through the wires, but for the most part actually stay put in the wires. More or less electrons actually sort of vibrate around with greater or lesser intensity.

Water - Clean water is a necessity. Imagine trying to make a good cup of coffee with muddy water...bleh! Aside from the clarity of water it is imperative that it contains no cysts, bacteria, fecal matter, protozoa or other dangerous and alive organisms. Water is still pumped into our houses the old fashioned way, pipes and valves from a main source. However, if you live in a house off the water grid you will be responsible for pumping it out of the ground, or purifying it from rain...or if the conditions are right collecting it from the air via fog collectors !

Heat - House heating is usually accomplished via fossil fuels. Generally fossil fuels are burnt as efficiently as possible and the resulting warmth is blown throughout the house. Lately there is a resurgence of wood and wood pellet stoves for heating a house. Aside from being more earth friendly than fossil fuels, they are much more rustic and Romantic!

Insulation - Our houses are insulated well..keeping the hot air in in the winter and the cool air in in the summer. This is a key ingredient to a comfortable house.

Air Conditioning/Cooling - In the summer most houses get really warm, thus some form of cooling is required. In Dry Climates evaporative coolers use the principle that hot dry air can be made cool be absorbing the heat in water. In more humid climates Freon is expanded and contracted in order to capture heat from the air; our vehicles use this method as well. There are more methods for cooling air including acoustic cooling!

Food - Most of the food we consume is produced en mass from farms far away from our houses. Food however can be grown efficiently and with much benefit in our own back yard!

Transportation - Nothing defines America like cars. We love cars and we love going places. And we love cheap gas. Unfortunately some of that may need to be rethought as gas prices keep on climbing. Interestingly, the largest producers of oil in the middle east are some of the largest investors in renewable energy...hmmm....interesting.

Appliances - I love appliances. I love to be able to wash my clothes, and dry them quickly, wash my dishes with little effort, put 2 cups of raw rice in the rice cooker and have steamed rice 20 minutes later. I love being able to have cold ice-cream in the refrigerator. I love not having to plug my computer in to use the Internet. Unfortunately all appliances especially washers and dryers use incredible amounts of water and electricity.

Communication - The Internet is perhaps the best invention in Modern History. In fact, the guy who invented packet switching, which makes the Internet possible, was recently inducted into the inventors hall of fame. All devices that enable us to talk and communicate of long distances are not only incredible, but incredibly useful.

Entertainment - Nothing says humanity like entertainment. In a way, entertainment is the lifeblood of our culture. Entertainment is really just story telling. And story telling tells us who we are and what we are doing.

These are the basics of our modern lifestyle. Certainly one could find many more essentials to our modern life, but without the above, we would hardly recognize our lives as modern.

In the next few articles I will explore each topic in more detail and offer some practicle suggestions.

Links to the first two entries in this series

Why I want to Live off the Grid - Part I, Interdependence
Why I want to Live off the Grid - Introduction

Why I Want to Live off the Grid - Part I, Interdependence, or how the TV is the Devil

Why I Want to Live off the Grid - Part I, Interdependence, or how the TV is the Devil

In High School I quickly became a teachers pet for a paper I wrote called "Television: The Work of the Devil?". Most people who know me, know that I am a well-meaning Christian, and I must first say that this paper was not about the moral evils of television content (though indeed I do find most television content unsavory). It was rather a look at how television has influenced our culture, our selves and our sense of well being. But first and foremost it looked at the ways in which television is a mind and creativity destroyer.

Being on the grid necessarily implies dependence on a larger framework for sustenance. Now to be clear we must reaffirm that one can never be fully independent. No man is an island to quote John Donne. In fact let's review his poem here; it speaks volumes about the very core of humanity.

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." - Meditation XVII

Knowing that we are all interdependent and connected means that in some way we have a very sincere and natural need for human interaction. How sad is it then that the average American spends about 5-7 hours watching television a day? In fact, if we sleep for 7-8 hours and work for 8-9 hours, that leaves us with about 1-3 hour of totally free interaction with our friends, our spouses, people we don't know or haven't yet met, much less our grandparents and other distant relatives. To put this in perspective, 5-7 hours a day of television watching a day works will end up being 20-30% of one's lifetime.

At this point, it strikes me that when we talk about off the grid living, we are really talking about a way to become more interconnected with life, humanity, and the environment. An off the grid lifestyle is paradoxical then in that our images of an off-the-gridder is a solitary person in a cabin, by himself, who is kind of nutty and has a very long and disgusting beard (if he is a male of course). However, on the grid people seem to live in nice suburbs with all the modern conveniences and are quite content with the status quo. Thus the paradox is that not having to depend on the modern infrastructure (independence) will lead us to greater interdependence (an independence conditional on other more immediate human beings). However the dependency on modern conveniences has led to a great deal of Independence in the on-grid person...so much so that they often lead lives of quiet desperation and loneliness.

I believe that the first step to getting off the grid of mental dullness, the grid of contentment with the status quo, the grid of normality and blandness is to get rid of our televisions...or at the very least to get rid of cable television and to remove the television from the prominent spot in our living rooms. I think that real life has enough challenges, adventure and mystery to never get bored.

I hope in the next few posts about getting off the grid that we will begin to further understand what it means that get off the grid, and why it is the best thing we can do. We will further understand that becoming independent will lead to interdependence because, in essence, getting off the grid means changing our dependencies to a much more local set of people...something known as interdependence.

Why I Want to Live Off the Grid - Introduction

I was talking with my buddy Will today. Will said that he read an interview with an Amish guy who was 100% content with his life. Will hypothesized that amongst other things, the Amish live a simpler lifestyle more focused on the arts and the human situation. In other words the Amish are kind of like conservative hippies that are sticking it to the Man by living off the grid.
Hearing about the independent and apparently content Amish reinvigorated my dream of finally getting off the grid. After I read this article on water/fog harvesting http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/water_outta_thi.php at www.treehugger.com I was nearly ready to get Malia and move out to the mountains. (Note good water is one of the more difficult things to obtain when living off grid...but thanks to these guys http://www.fogquest.org not only can you get inexpensive clean water...but so can millions of poor people around the world .... it's as easy as putting up a net and catching water from the air...really!)

So what would it take to live an "off the grid" or nearly "off the grid" lifestyle?

First, what is "off the grid" living? Living off the grid is here defined as living an everyday lifestyle such that:

a.) Public Utilities such as electricity, gas and water are only optionally used as a backup.
b.) Supermarkets, and other food supplies are only optionally used for scarce or non-local food items.
c.) Clothing, tools and utensils have no restrictions; however, they must fit within the energy usage confines of a.) , thus hand tools and handmade blankets/furniture are ideal. If you can't make it, then ideally you buy/barter it from a local craftsman/woman.
d.) No Television (actually if you just want to get rid of your television and disregard a, b and c I will still consider you a half-gridder, or at least a brave hippie)

In short there is one simple question that sifts the "gridders" for the "non-gridders"....Would your lifestyle significantly change given that a mass epidemic wipes out 3/4 of the world's population leaving you and all your friends alive? If you answer no, then you are definitely a non-gridder.

I think that off the grid living is predominantly a mentality, attitude and mindset more than it is a set of rules or ecological ideology. For more information on the mentality of a non-gridder read "Walden" by Henry David Thorough or "Sailing Along Around the World" by Joshua Slocum. In essence, off the grid living is marked by independence, a courageous spirit and a desire to have a constant adventure with the wild. Also sticking it to the Man is a chief concern for non-gridders.

Throughout the next couple of posts I would like to not only share how one might get off the grid...but also take a historical look at the American people who have only recently begun living an on-grid lifestyle. It is this independence that has chiefly characterized the American, an independence which seems to be slowly fading into an urban/Big Business led dependent lifestyle. Let's hope for the sake of the environment, our minds, our children's future and our own that this trend doesn't continue.

Reasons Why

I have started this blog for a few reasons. I hope that my posts are useful and productive for myself and anyone else who stumbles across them. Hopefully I will have at least one post a week on one of the following topics:

1.) Green Technology - all things that give us free energy, or help to conserve energy without making my life a drag.

2.) Math, Statistics, Machine Learning and the Stock Market - I'm currently joining the ranks of modern day alchemists and trying to predict the stock market on a day to day basis. I agree that if successful I will eventually defeat myself because I will sway the market one way or the other. But a boy can still dream

3.) Philosophy - any philosophical musings and ideas. The nature of the mind. Psychology and all of the "soft" sciences.

4.) Entrepreneurship - I'm excited about getting into the business world. I'm trying to focus on non-pie-in-the-sky million dollar eyes and instead focus on how to take a non-sexy idea and make a profit from it.