A damning indictment of solar power

[widebody911]

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53450688

If you have ever doubted whether solar power can be a transformative technology, read on.

This is a story about how it has proved its worth in the toughest environment possible.

The market I'm talking about is perhaps the purest example of capitalism on the planet.

There are no subsidies here. Nobody is thinking about climate change - or any other ethical consideration, for that matter.

This is about small-scale entrepreneurs trying to make a profit.

[rwest]

Well, they don’t have grid power there, so hard to tell if they would still do solar if they had power from the utility like most of us have.

[red-beard]

Rural water pumping has been a perfect solar application. Wind powered water pumps have been around for a very long time.

[Evans, Marv]

I wonder if in the future, the water table would be sufficiently depleted to cause that economy to collapse. In the San Joaquin Valley of California, they're sucking the water out of the ground so fast the ground level has dropped ten inches in places.

[daepp]

Not sure how it's an indictment of solar, but a good piece nonetheless. Thanks for sharing it.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

I wonder if in the future, the water table would be sufficiently depleted to cause that economy to collapse. In the San Joaquin Valley of California, they're sucking the water out of the ground so fast the ground level has dropped ten inches in places.

It has dropped way more than that. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89761/san-joaquin-valley-is-still-sinking

And this is from 2016

Since the 1920s, excessive pumping of groundwater at thousands of wells has caused land to subside, or sink, by as much as 8.5 meters (28 feet) in sections of California’s San Joaquin Valley

Several trouble spots that were identified in 2015 have continued to subside at rates as high as 0.6 meters (2 feet) per year.

[MBAtarga]

Solar panels function well in a desert environment to power pumps for water. What a surprise!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Rural water pumping has been a perfect solar application. Wind powered water pumps have been around for a very long time.

There are dozens of patents for "improved" wind powered pumps from the 19th and early 20th century. It just makes sense.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by widebody911

It has dropped way more than that. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89761/san-joaquin-valley-is-still-sinking

And this is from 2016

Since the 1920s, excessive pumping of groundwater at thousands of wells has caused land to subside, or sink, by as much as 8.5 meters (28 feet) in sections of California’s San Joaquin Valley

Several trouble spots that were identified in 2015 have continued to subside at rates as high as 0.6 meters (2 feet) per year.

Well, the whole valley was covered in water at one point in history. I have a shark's tooth that was supposedly recovered at an oil well site. It only makes sense when I remember the number of long gone relatives that worked the oil patch back during WWII and even before that. IIRC, the production in the San Joaquin was ramped up during the war.

Maybe when the seas rises and the land sinks, that new waterfront property in CA everyone talks about when the coastline falls into the sea after the "Big One," actually takes another form.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Well, the whole valley was covered in water at one point in history. I have a shark's tooth that was supposedly recovered at an oil well site. It only makes sense when I remember the number of long gone relatives that worked the oil patch back during WWII and even before that. IIRC, the production in the San Joaquin was ramped up during the war.

Maybe when the seas rises and the land sinks, that new waterfront property in CA everyone talks about when the coastline falls into the sea after the "Big One," actually takes another form.

[Rodney Nelson]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Whewww. Arizona is still there. That was a close one.

[Cajundaddy]

Lots of really good applications for solar voltaic. Pumping water, remote lighting, off grid homes/RVs/boats. Replacing a baseload power grid is probably a bridge too far for wind/solar. Add a bunch of 3rd gen nukes and you are good to go.

[island911]

are they using Teslas to move out the heroin ?

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by RWebb

The Oklahoma panhandle is the highest part of the state, and that map shows it underwater? The Rocky mountains are a lake?

Millions of years ago the ocean covered much of Oklahoma so anything can happen in geologic time frames. I feel very safe from tsunamis and they are about the same threat level as a major meteor strike.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

I wonder if in the future, the water table would be sufficiently depleted to cause that economy to collapse. In the San Joaquin Valley of California, they're sucking the water out of the ground so fast the ground level has dropped ten inches in places.

That topic was covered in the opening article.

In short, no one knows for sure but it is a real concern.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by kach22i

That topic was covered in the opening article.

In short, no one knows for sure but it is a real concern.

Has been for a long time. Water rights and usage was a big deal when I was working for a friend of mine's Dad in the early 70's around Oxnard and Camarillo.

The Colorado River doesn't even reach the sea most years.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by kach22i

That topic was covered in the opening article.

In short, no one knows for sure but it is a real concern.

Eh, by then we will desalinating water and growing in enclosed environments for a large part of agriculture. Just like the Afgans using power to extract water from below a desert.

Water will not be allow to reenter the earth through the soil. There is plenty of water on the planet we just manage it very poorly. Conventional toilets should become a thing of the past and soon. Dry showers are completely viable — I use a liquid out of a bottle to wash (clean) the cat.

And on through the ranks of appliances we use like the dishwasher. I'm stifled when it comes to the clothes washer. There is dry cleaning but that isn't working out so well these days. At least not at the cost.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Rodney Nelson

Whewww. Arizona is still there. That was a close one.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The Oklahoma panhandle is the highest part of the state, and that map shows it underwater? The Rocky mountains are a lake?

Millions of years ago the ocean covered much of Oklahoma so anything can happen in geologic time frames. I feel very safe from tsunamis and they are about the same threat level as a major meteor strike.

If both polar ice caps fully melt, the sea level rise is 200 feet. That map is not just wrong, it is 100% false #fakenews

The map shows areas that are 5000-6000 feet ASL as flooded, yet most of New York state is not flooded. At 4000 feet of water, all of New York becomes 46 tiny islands in the Adirondacks...And I've been to more than 30 of those "tiny islands".


https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question473.htm

[island911]

Webb... not a stickler for accuracy.

Originally Posted by red-beard

. Wind powered water pumps have been around for a very long time.

Yep


per Wikipedia

[302340]

Lake Michigan is at record highs, up 4 feet from normal. ... No, you can't have any water. ...

" ...Lake Michigan's water level was around 582 feet by the end of May, almost 6 feet higher than historic lows in 2013, and almost 4 feet higher than average, according to records dating back more than a century. ..."

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/06/04/lake-michigan-expected-break-high-water-records-summer/5304915002/


Lee