Is solar really a viable option for energy?

Question

Can we cover the land with massive solar panels to generate power and still have room to grow food? Will food grow under solar panels?

How will solar solve our energy problems.

Answer 1

Yes. Solar energy is a unending supply of energy, the sun is expected to run for 10000 years more.

Answer 2

we don't HAVE to cover the land with the solar panels, we can put them on our houses/apartment buildings. there will be enough land for food, although wind energy is more efficient.

Answer 3

Yes but on a individual resident basis .

Answer 4

We already have the largest solar collector ever . It is the plants which store the sun's energy in the plants seed. Olive oil ,and many others. The Democrats want US to buy our oil from  our Enemy.

Answer 5

Yup.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-so...

edit:

You have a fundamental misunderstanding.

The process of extracting and using fossil fuels creates so many problems. The effects of drilling go far, far beyond an "airport sized tract of land".  The CO2 from burning it is affecting the entire world.  Every part of the process from development to end use is destructive.  To get at coal we are lopping off the tops of entire mountains and filling in entire valleys with tailings.  The petrochemical industry is a major polluter.  Sensitive ecosystems in vast areas around the world have been destroyed beyond recovery.  The list goes on and on.

On relative terms, trading that for some static, relatively benign development in the desert is a good bargain.  

If we would really go for the brass ring and create a distributed energy system that is integrated into buildings and infrastructure we are already using, (solar on every roof, windmill in every yard, growing non-food biofuels along the interstate highways etc.) the incremental environmental impact would be zero.  In fact, if you look at it closely, it would be a net improvement for the environment.

A massive centrally controlled solar infrastructure is a compromise.  If we don't go for that we may get nothing.  

Continuing with the status quo is a guaranteed recipe for failure.  The oil will run out and we'll be right back to where we are now.

-----------------------

"The Democrats want US to buy our oil from our Enemy."

The ignorance of that statement speaks for itself.

Answer 6

It's *an* option, not the only option. Everybody seems to want to make this a winner-take-all choice. We need to try all the options.

-Solar can be put on roofs, and can be located in the desert, where no one is growing food.

-Wind works better in the evening, when the wind comes up and solar won't work. You can put wind farms in the ocean, and each installation provides shelter for fish.

-Geothermal works well in certain locations.



-etc.