This Area Would Be Enough to Power the Whole World with Solar Energy

Did you know the amount of electricity consumed in the world each year? According to statistics Site Index Mundi, the world’s electricity consumption reached 17,780 million kWh in 2011 and 19.090 million kWh in 2012. With a growing population and expansion of the technological infrastructure, the number increases every year, while the energy resources of our planet are limited and will be exhausted in the near future.

At the same time, the Earth receives an average of 164 watts of solar energy per square meter in a 24-hour day, which makes 84 terawatts of energy (or 84 billion kWh) per day worldwide. So the challenge is to gather the necessary amount of solar energy through solar panels. You may think it should be covered with solar panels to power the entire world with vast territories of electricity. However, incredible as it may seem, a small piece of land would be enough to meet global demand for electricity.

According to a diploma thesis of Nadine May the Technical University of Braunschweig entitled “Eco-balance of a solar electricity from North Africa to Europe Transmission,” the world could be powered exclusively by solar energy through solar panels placed in a small area in North Africa.

The three red boxes can be seen in the above picture shows the area that would be enough to meet the demand for solar electricity in Germany (D), Europe (EU-25) and worldwide (Welt).

Of course, this would require the installation of equipment and network cables needed and have ecological impacts on the ecosystem of the region, which, however, would be many times lower than those of a conventional power plant. In all cases, the benefits would far outweigh the possible environmental effects.

“The overall we can say that, from an ecological point of view, nothing prevents the expansion of solar thermal power in North Africa and the transmission of solar electricity produced in Europe,” concluded May

Interestingly, the document was published in 2005. Now, ten years later, most countries still depend on conventional sources of energy production and take little advantage of renewable energy. The problem is that much depends on governments, most of which seem to favor the development of green technology and renewable energy.

This, however, should not prevent us having our own “green revolution” – everyone can install solar panels on your roof instead of continuing the use of technologies based on conventional fuels. Remember that the future of our planet depends on our decisions and behaviors. This, however, should not prevent us having our own “green revolution” – if more and more people are choosing to install solar panels on your roof instead of continuing to use conventional fuel technologies based on the world situation will change. Remember that the future of our planet depends on our decisions and behaviors.