Hi everyone,
I have been listening to Bob's show lately and most of what he says is right on the mark. One of his topics, however, seems to be rather uninformed. That's alternative energy.
Bob keeps pushing the idea that nuclear energy is the only hope for mankind. I won't argue that nuclear needs to be a part of the solution but Bob's total dissing of solar energy is really annoying me.
I recently "ran the numbers" and here is what I found:
-The earth's surface receives a constant 89,000 TerraWatts of solar energy.
-Total energy usage by humans is 15 TerraWatts
Now assume that we could cover at most 5% of the earth's surface with solar collectors and they would have a maximum efficiency of 50%, the 89,000 TerraWatts becomes 2,200 TerraWatts.
The bottom line: There is enough solar energy to provide 100 times the energy needed by all humans on the planet.
Of course you will have to have some nuclear to deal with power demand after sunset but there are so many things that can be done with the power. You can generate hydrogen, use it to extract clean burning gas from coal, oil shale, and tar sands. Use it to desalinate sea water and pump it to Las Vegas!
I would even hazard to guess that covering 100 square miles of the desert southwest with solar collectors would be faster and cheaper than building 100 nuclear power plants.
To see the source of my numbers, search for "solar energy" on Google and click on the Wikipedia link.
