[ExI] Dark Matter

[Eugen Leitl]

On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 11:19:52AM -0700, Kelly Anderson wrote:

> > So to generate the amount of power we make with natural gas and coal
> > combined requires about 10 km either side of the road along a nearly
> > abandoned stretch of pavement in Nevada.  Get on Google Maps, go to street

There's no point in making power where nobody needs it. You can power
transportation by about the amount of pavement the highway or the rail
needs. 

Normal suburbia would be net exporting, if you just utilized building
skin. A bit more (plenty of dead/sealed area) and you can run
everything.

> > view, look around.   There is pleeeenty of room for something like that.
> > Next step is to price out 16 thousand square kilometers of PV panels, or 16
> > billion square meters.  Any gurus among us?
> >
> 
> The problem with that is you are creating more demand than there is supply.
> That will drive the price up (econ 101). And whatever numbers you start

If Germany did not use FITs there would be no global solar market
today. Does Econ 101 cover that, too?

> with won't be the ones you end with.

Yes, the numbers would be way lower. Economies of scale alone
would do it, but long-term you would have other effects kicking
in. E.g., there's no point in have higher-voltage AC in a home.
Lower-voltage DC would cover >90%.