Kuwait's Solar Power
The current discussion about Kuwait's recent interest in French Nuclear Technology was the reason behind my latest blog post, and it made me think about another topic altogether; something I also blogged about a couple of years back.
Kuwait is awash in Solar Energy which is as yet untapped, so it would make sense that someone should consider utilizing this renewable source of energy to complement Kuwait's energy needs in the short term. The problem is that it's costly to acquire, but in the long run, it's cheaper to maintain and sell, if properly deployed.
Imagine, if you will, all Kuwaiti households converting to sun-powered water heaters, as opposed to the existing electrical heaters. How much would that save?
Expand and include solar-powered traffic signals, street lights, even households, for that matter. The technology is already available and affordable (by comparison), and it would have been great if the Kuwaiti Government subsidized Solar energy deployment for residential use, as an example of complementing the existing Oil-powered generators. But for now, in Kuwait at least, that's just a pipe dream.
Another source is wind power, where a single wind generator is installed onto a home, powering it when wind is present, and charging the household batteries when it's not. At least we can look forward to windy/dusty conditions like today's!
One more resource is the Earth itself, Geothermal Energy: tapping the earth's heat to create steam which turns a turbine and thus generates electricity is something that's been discussed in some detail in some scientific journals, (and mostly in games!); its major constraints are seismic stability and the cost of drilling deep enough in order to tap the right levels of heat, and then manufacturing the right material to pipe water into the ground, and carry the resulting steam back up onto the surface. With financial might available in Kuwait and other GCC states, that wont be a major problem.
In closing, while Nuclear power sounds a viable solution - if done right - it's still an old technology, with serious long-term concerns, no matter how safe it's designed to be. Mother Nature, on the other hand, is a kinder, gentler, "Maternal" resource, and we'd be like newborn babies getting sustenance from our mother's milk...poetic, possible, proven, so who'se going to implement it for our kids?
Fingers crossed...as always.
Solar energy is renewable and clean...but somehow, they don't meet the energy requirements of the middle east, where temperatures soar and round the clock cooling is required. A normal AC would require a lot of square meters of solar panels. There are solar powered air coolers (nee conditioners)...but that wouldn't even scratch the surface of the cooling required. However, Solar energy could be used to power light bulbs and other non-motorized applications...saving a few bucks.
This would be one of the reasons that Nuclear is still being plugged as the best source of energy...despite the dangers that come with it.
I remember hearing a segment on BBC a couple years ago saying Kuwait has been blessed with oil, and would be poised on the edge of a whole new - as you said - renewable - energy source which it has in ABUNDANCE and while it would require some investment, once again, Kuwait, with small expense, could be selling excess energy to the world. It's like win - win.
If those radars and signs work by solar power in cloudy France, imagine how they would work in Kuwait! :-)
An interesting Al-Watan article "Academics argue that nuclear energy is ''friendlier'' than oil" on the pros and cons: http://www2.alwatan.com.kw/Default.aspx?MgDid=738581&pageId=473
ofcourse nothing is as simple of right and wrong or black and white, YES Kuwait as well many GCC countries have massive potential in solar energy which is abundant through out the whole year, just compare that to Europe where solar plants and panel are erected and where countries provide big incentives to consumers and manufacturers to erect panels EVEN though they have a fraction of the amount of day light this region have. but there are many obstacles; one is what user mentabolism mentioned where the average consumption in energy can never be sustained with solar energy (average of 14k watts/h per person). also lighting in Kuwait(street lighting in particular) in my rough calculation consists of 5% of the total load on the 8000 ish Mega watts capacity that the ministry plants can provide, meaning that is economically not feasible. so as i said its not a simple matter. this is not to mention that fundamentally solar panels generate electricity utilizing only 10% of the rays it catches on its surface, so solar energy is still a developing technology and this has to taken in account if Kuwait is seriously thinking about solar energy.
hope i didnt bore you all with this Loooong comment :)
I love reading blogs. It's even better than reading magazines or books.
You hit the nail on the head with that one, awesome read! Keep up the good work :-)