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Gaeneous t1_j7vt4t2 wrote

I feel like this gets thrown around a lot but is rarely put into effect, at least in America. But one of the biggest downsides to solar is the tearing up of land and the environment. But America already has a long history of doing just that for parking lots. Why are we not making or funding businesses with oversized parking lots to cover a majority of their parking spots with Solar panels? The land has already been tore up just for parking, may as well also throw solar panels over them in a canopy fashion, no?

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Sammy_Roth t1_j7vureg wrote

Hey there, you raise a very good point -- huge potential for solar over parking lots without destroying wildlife habitat. France actually just required this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/02/06/france-solar-parking-lots/.

Even in a best case scenario for solar on parking lots, rooftops and other spots within the built environment, though, researchers say there will still be a huge need for large solar farms to meet climate goals. I wrote about that reality here: https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-01-07/how-rooftop-solar-could-save-americans-473-billion-dollars-boiling-point.

But the more that can go on parking lots and rooftops, the fewer conflicts and challenges overall. Thank you for the good question!

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Gaeneous t1_j7vw0tf wrote

Thanks for the response, I didn’t realize France had required this but that’s pretty sick.

I also recently found out about wave power as well. And according to eia.gov, theoretical energy potential of waves off the coasts of the US could potentially make up as much as 64% of total US utility-scale electricity generation as of 2021. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower/wave-power.php

My question is how viable will this be in the future and what would the impact on marine life be? Also would implementing this at a large scale impact our ports?

(Thanks for the AMA btw)

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Sammy_Roth t1_j7vwlo5 wrote

Another good question -- sorry to say I don't have a great answer to this one. In general, I'd say wave power is one of several technologies that in theory could go a long way toward meeting human energy needs, but which is extremely nascent/untested at a large scale, and therefore pretty difficult to bet a climate-safe future on. Will definitely be interested to see if and how wave energy develops, and if so what the environmental impacts might look like.

Also, you're welcome!

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Gaeneous t1_j7vwvjc wrote

Yeah I just realized your AMA was on solar and wind, my b. Thanks for your answers!

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atroxodisse t1_j7wkzp3 wrote

I read that India was installing panels over rivers to prevent water loss through evaporation and obviously for generating electricity. Also, kudos on using "the built environment" in a sentence.

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Gaeneous t1_j7vtvix wrote

Think about all the walmarts, targets, hyvees, trader joes, with 200+ car parking lots. I feel like you could create a significant amount of energy by doing this. It may not look pretty, but at least it would serving a greater purpose than just parking.

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I_think_therefore t1_j7vvatk wrote

It'll also keep cars cooler in the summer by providing shade. We won't need to crank the A/C quite so much when we get into them.

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