Comments by "Tony Wilson" (@tonywilson4713) on "The Problem with Solar Energy in Africa" video.

  1. In terms of money $89 Billion is not even that big of a number anymore. Its not a small or trivial number but its not that big either. I'm Australian and the new gas plants at Ashburton, Darwin, Barrow Island and Curtis Island totaled well over $100 Billion. At the current rate of renewable energy Australia is faced with a bill up around $200 Billion for new clean energy generation. Not only do we have to replace existing plants but build new ones for an increasing population. The British spent over £200 Billion just cleaning up Sellafield and are now building a bunch of new nuclear power stations. The Germans spent a reported €1.3 Trillion (€1,300 Billion) on renewable infrastructure. So you all need to consider that number in the context of current engineering project size. What they should consider is converting some of that energy into Hydrogen and piping it across Europe. Pipe lines are actually not that expensive in relative terms and we know how to lay them. Yes it takes exergy to make, energy to make and its not that efficient to convert back into electrical energy but it has a couple of big advantages: 1: The power stations at the user end are BASE LOAD in that they can run 24/7/365 (except for maintenance. 2: If they build hydrogen fueled power stations on the existing power station sites then the grid connection is already in place saving a lot of money. 3: Hydrogen can be stored with very little (mainly leaks) loss. The only question is how much needs to be sent as Hydrogen to keep the power grids of Europe stable.
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