Replies to post #23797 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[wow_happens28]

Need a good laugh Oakes?

Or is this an efficient solution?

Installing Solar Panels Over Canals Could Save California Gallons of Water

https://www.ecowatch.com/solar-panels-california-canals-2651172983.html

Installing solar panels over California's network of water canals could save the state an estimated 63 billion gallons of water and produce 13 gigawatts of renewable power every year, according to a feasibility study published in Nature Sustainability.

California moves more water than any other system in the world, with 75% of the state's available water in its northern third and the southern two-thirds accounting for 80% of the state's demand.

Covering the canals with solar panels would reduce evaporation by shading the canals from the sun (along with the co-benefit of reducing canal-choking plant growth) and the cooling effects of the water could boost solar panel efficiency.

The final third of this win-win-win is the land elsewhere that won't need to be covered by a solar farm, Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute at the UC Berkeley School of Law, told Wired.

Kiparsky likened it to the obvious preference for putting solar panels on one's roof, instead of in the middle of the backyard.

"You're taking something that's already been altered by human activity and doubling up on the benefits it provides. That's the profound piece," he said.

[semi_infinite]

The first drillship i was on was Glomar Explorer. The CGI ship depicted for wind turbine is probably 2/3 the size of that so it is not that big a deal. Anything offshore takes maintenance. The difference is that platforms are there to maintain and power equipment all the way from well bottoms to wellheads and back down to pipe networks. And don't forget the stuff that require specialized equipment and divers down all the way to the ocean bottom. I don't think the expenses are even close.

And then there are the occasional accidents like Piper Alpha and Deepwater horizon.