..for individual power sources to power America?

Because of time limitations, I'm going to only go into Solar in the OP, and over the weakend address Nuclear and Natural Gas (and I'll try to get to others as well). And I'm only doing solar first, because I currently have the numbers on hand.

There are two fields of energy we need to look at, Total energy (meaning absolutely everything, cars, planes, electrisity, industry, ect), and then there's just the Electrical power (that is used to power our homes).

102 Solar Insolation Map / Chart

Wikimedia Error

We can see that the best place for solar, based on tests, is not in AZ or NM, but in CA, naming Inyokern, CA (averages 7.66 hours), and in the surrounding counties, it is about 7.5 hours average (so we can use 7.5 for the math).

First, let's do just electric. How large of a single solar field would we need to power all the electrisity of america? Our Electric consumption is about 4060 billion kWhr, or 4060 million MWhr (MWhrs are easier for the math). 4060 million per very becomes 11,123,300 MWhrs per day. And in 7.5 hours of light per day, it needs 1,483,100 MW. The average solar panel (modern, you can still get those from the 60's and 70's, but we're working with average modern), is 15% effieceny, or 200 W/m2, that turns into 200 MW/km2, so we would need 7,416 km2 to power all of the US electrical needs. To compare, the single county (Kern county) that Inyokern is in is a total of 21,137 km2, and a neighboring county (San Bernardino) is over 52,000 km2. So we'd be looking at about 1/10 of these two counties.

For total power of the US, we use about 100 quadrillion BTUs (that's about 7 times what we use in just electricity), or about a total of 3.3 TW (29000 TWhr). So we would need about 51,900 km2 of solar panels to meet every energy need that we have (for all energies). That is about All of all of San Bernardino County.

I will come back some time to do the numbers on Hydro, Nuclear, and Natural gas.

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Sorry, a little late for Nuclear, but it will be much shorter, as the numbers are easier.

The US currently produced (in 2006) 4,060 TWh, so there is 3,275 TWh that are not currently being produced by Nuclear. Given the average nuclear plant is about 1,100 MW (with modern tech), the amount of energy that each provides is 9.635 TMWh, so another 340 nuclear power plants would be needed to generate all of our electricity.

Now to go on to the total energy that the US uses (which is a good deal more than just electricity). The US uses 29,000 TWh a year in all it's energy. So with our current use of energy, and the average energy per reactor, it would take 2,925 more Nuclear reactors to meet our energy needs (of 2006).

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Here's a better idea:

The human body produces 1.2 W/kg, or about 90 Watts for the average man. That works out to only 45 million people to meet all the US' electrical needs. China, India, and Mexico put together could easily spare us that many. We hook 'em up to the grid, the other nations get relief from population pressures, and it's a win-win situation.

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Words mean nothing to today's conservatives. They say whatever will help advance their cause at the moment, switch talking points in a heartbeat, and then act indignant if anyone uses the exact same argument they were using five minutes ago.
Dinner Table Politics

Oregon Elephant:

1. I have checked your calculations based on 4.06 x 10^15 Wh per year electricity. Assuming your other assumptions are correct, your bottom line is correct except per below.
2. In the solar calculation, you have to store the electricity generated during the 7.5 hours so it can be used throughout the 24 hours. Isn't that an inefficient process?
3. What is the cost of 7400 sq. km of PV panels? What is the cost of an equivalent 420 nukes?

1) we don't have a method to gather that electricity
2) That is not free electricity, it is being used to keep those people's bodies functioning, so it is all needed by them.
3) It is kind of inhumane

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Plus, it's from the matrix. The idea was silly in the movie too.

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Enough with the BS. Here's a calculation for you:

7400 km^2 * (mile / 1.6 km)^2 *5280 ft/ mile/ 48' wide = 318,000 miles of 4 lane highway.

That's 6.8 times longer than the interstate highway system; the largest public works project in human history.

Those 420 nukes are looking very attractive.

I think he was talking about using human bodies, Southern.

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Just like the good old days with you true believer nuke energy enthusiasts. YOU NEVER EVER ANSWER THE REAL QUESTIONS ABOUT WASTE OR QUAKE FAULTS.

No thank you.

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National Debt =

I am still waiting to find out where they will build all of these reactors and just who they think will allow it in their neighborhood.

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