Solar Power Potential with PRT Ron SwensonATRA Santa Cruz2006 November 18

not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.[B]oat builders would suffer and towline, whip, and harness makers would be left destitute. Martin van Buren, Governor of New York, April 1832......not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.Van Buren 18328th President 1837-1841If canal boats are supplanted by railroads, serious unemployment will result not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.[B]oat builders would suffer and towline, whip, and harness makers would be left destitute. Martin van Buren, Governor of New York, April 1832......not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.Van Buren 18328th President 1837-1841If canal boats are supplanted by railroads, serious unemployment will result The Elevator SpeechWithout solar, energy independence is pure rhetoric. Clintons New Generation VehicleArnolds Hydrogen Highway GMs Yellow Gas Cap Bushs Cellulosic Ethanol.Only solar energy will do the job. Solar is sufficient to power high capacity PRT -- 100 percent -- using only the systems 4 to 8 right of way.

Global Warming over the Past MillenniumVery rapidly we have entered uncharted territory Over the 20th century, energy consumption increased sixteenfold. Global warming from the fossil fuel greenhouse became a major, and increasingly dominant, factor in climate change.

We know the peak is coming but what can we do about it? Can Solar Energy Replace Oil?

American Consumers Do Understand

Net Production of Biomass in the USA www.oilcrisis.com/Patzek

Swensons Law To avoid deprivation resulting from the exhaustion of non-renewable resources, humanity must employ conservation and renewable resource substitutes sufficient to match depletion.www.HubbertPeak.com/Swenson

Thomas Edison I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait 'til oil and coal run out before we tackle that.(1847-1931) www.ThomasEdison.com

Global Solar Energy Balancewww.hubbertPeak.com/debate/oilcalcs.htm

120,000 TW of solar energy received by the Earthwww.ecotopia.com/Apollo2

Total Area Required for a PV Power Plant to Produce the Total US Electrical Demandwww.ecotopia.com/Apollo2

Solar on Railwww.SolarEvolution.com/SkyTran

SkyTran SolarSolar SkyTran, with aesthetics emphasis and added power at stations

Calculate Solar size, cost per Mile

30 mph, operating speed x 2 sec (vehicle interval) = 88 ft between vehicles = 60 vehicles/mi, separated by interval specified x 2 kw @ operating speed = 120 kw needed in a mile stretch 10 hrs at peak operation equivalent 4 hrs of peak sun equivalent (Coast = 4, Desert = 6) = 2.5 solar factor 120 x 2.5 = 300 kW/mile x $6.00 /watt $1,800,000 /mi 16 watts / sq ft, SunPower, most efficient on market 3.5 ft wide solar panel to meet requirement

PV: The Growth Industry Oil declines at 4%/yrPV increases at 50%/yr Peak +5 +10 +15 www.ecotopia.com/ASES/SolarToday

SolarevolutionMore at www.SolarEvolution.com

Source: Marty Hoffert NYU (see Smalley)Source: Colin J. Campbell, www.oilcrisis.com/campbellSource: Stephen Schork, The Schork Report, www.EnergyMarketIntelligence.comSource: USDA, US Forest Service, Patzek, 2006

Source: Chu, Steve, Solutions to the energy problem, Asia Pacific Partnership Conference, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, 20060419Source: J. A. Turner, A Realizable Renewable Energy Future, Science, 285, p 5428 (1999). We will first address the question Can we really supply all our energy needs from renewable energy? The power of renewable energy can easily be shown using the United States as an example. The US is the world largest energy consumer, total US annual electrical demand for 1997 was about 3.2 x 1012 kWh (representing 25% of the Worlds consumption). If we assume flat fixed-plate collectors covering only half of the available land area with a system efficiency of 10% (current commercial technology), a PV array 104 miles (166 km) on a side (~10,900 sq. miles, 27600 km2), placed in southwest Nevada, would over one year supply all this energy. This area represent less than 0.4% of the available land area of the United States. A system efficiency of 15%, which should be available in the next 3-5 years, would drop the area to 7200 sq. miles. If we add wind to the energy mix, this area for PV grows smaller, if we add geothermal, smaller still, if we add hydro smaller still, the point is clear, we can gather more than enough renewable energy to power our society and yet have an abundance of renewable resources available for future growth. Also one should note that wind alone or solar thermal alone could also provide all our electrical energy needs. The area of the Nevada test site is approximately 5000 sq mi. [J A Turner, Solar World Congress, Orlando, FL, 2005 August]Source: SkyTran 200604Source: SkyTran 200604