Fizzzzle Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 For example, we have countries like Saudi Arabia who are oil exporting countries. You know what else they have in tremendous abundance? Sunlight. Why is it not possible for Saudi Arabia to build giant solar farms that power massive batteries that they could, like, ship to other places that don't get sun? I'm an idiot, so I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this and there's an obvious reason why this isn't a thing, but... Shouldn't we be trying to make that a thing? We know how to make batteries, there are certain countries like Saudi Arabia, any North African country the US, Chile, and Mongolia that have entire regions that get reliable sunlight almost every single day for 10-14 hours a day. To my idiot brain, it seems like exporting solar power would be a no-brainer to any country that has large swaths of desert. I understand why it isn't widespread *right now*, since using gas/coal is simply cheaper and cheaper always wins, but like... Shouldn't that be the goal, if you're one of those countries? Wouldn't you be working towards that goal? Maybe they are and I just haven't stumbled across it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaku3 Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 Oil is what they are extracting now and it's more valuable I imagine then simply solar energy. Oil is used in more then just energy. Also I love the idea of solar but I don't know what would be the blowback from filling a desert with solar panels. So on buildings, in parking lots, etc sure. Building them out in the middle of no where seems inefficent. Might as well keep developing fission and fusion reactors to see where that goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 We do have some really big batteries, they just aren’t what you may be thinking of. Northfield Mountain (hydroelectricity facility) - Wikipedia EN.M.WIKIPEDIA.ORG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzzzle Posted March 18, 2023 Author Share Posted March 18, 2023 8 minutes ago, Zaku3 said: Oil is what they are extracting now and it's more valuable I imagine then simply solar energy. Oil is used in more then just energy. Also I love the idea of solar but I don't know what would be the blowback from filling a desert with solar panels. So on buildings, in parking lots, etc sure. Building them out in the middle of no where seems inefficent. Might as well keep developing fission and fusion reactors to see where that goes. I know that recently (within the last couple years iirc) we built the first fusion reactor that actually put out more energy than it took to create it, but it still seems like mass-produced, reliable fusion energy is a long way off. Efficient solar energy is something we can do now. So if you're a country like Saudi Arabia, wouldn't you want to invest heavily in the possiblity of exporting solar (which means batteries)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 1 minute ago, sblfilms said: We do have some really big batteries, they just aren’t what you may be thinking of. Northfield Mountain (hydroelectricity facility) - Wikipedia EN.M.WIKIPEDIA.ORG And a way of storing storing energy is with molten salt. 24-Hour Solar Energy: Molten Salt Makes It Possible, and Prices Are Falling Fast - Inside Climate News INSIDECLIMATENEWS.ORG Sign up to receive our latest reporting on climate change, energy and environmental justice, sent directly to your inbox. Subscribe here. The first thing you see of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Facility... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 To directly answer the question, the energy density of batteries right now isn’t great and it is wholly uneconomical to ship charged batteries back and forth from eg SA and the EU. just spitballing it is probably better to not remove the battery and just have battery ships and have a huge number of docking stations ships can hook directly up to, and you would lose your ass on cost to return the “empty” ships to the Saudis. The batteries might be a few grams lighter if that. Like currently even if you can’t use oil tankers for any thing else on a return trip to their port of origin you’re at least using a lot less fuel to move the boat which wouldn’t be the case with batteries. Man there’s so many other things I haven’t mentioned like maintaining the grid supply/demand with shipping availability and the weather and a whole lot else too. Maintence also, like if you have a cell go bad does it make the whole ship useless? How to manage that? Better to store closer to generation or consumption than move the battery elsewhere. Might even be worth looking into advanced transmission tech at this point too but that has limits I’m sure as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 1 hour ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said: Might even be worth looking into advanced transmission tech at this point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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