Alex Epstein

@AlexEpstein ↗

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Last Checked Feb. 3, 2023

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Wed Jan 25 18:05:35 +0000 2023

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Alex Epstein @AlexEpstein

The world uses >165,000 TWh of energy per year, which requires ~19 billion kW of power output on avg. An optimistic, real-world power density for solar projects is 10 W/m^2. To power the world, you’d need ~1.8 million km^2 of solar PV projects—about the size of Libya. https://t.co/iCvwVPtIJT — PolitiTweet.org

Posted Jan. 25, 2023

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Alex Epstein @AlexEpstein

The main lie of "Just a small area of solar panels can power the world": it ignores the insane cost of the necessary batteries. But it also drastically underestimates how much space solar panels require. For example, this viral Twitter post underestimates the area by some 25X. https://t.co/JvFaOn2vcB — PolitiTweet.org

Posted Jan. 25, 2023

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Alex Epstein @AlexEpstein

If 1.8 million sq km of solar panels doesn’t seem like much, note that it is *more than all cities, towns, villages, and human infrastructure combined* (~1.5 million sq km). And this excludes the huge footprints of solar/battery mining, manufacturing, and transmission. — PolitiTweet.org

Posted Jan. 25, 2023