A recent report by British Petroleum (BP) found solar power generating capacity surged 73.3% last year. If you’re a dedicated fan of the singularity, statistics like that are reminiscent of Ray Kurzweil’s solar dictum—that solar power is on an exponential path, doubling every two years. To what end? A cheap, clean, and virtually boundless power source for humankind in two decades. Nothing major.
The report has some sunny stats for solar enthusiasts. Beyond that 73.3% global capacity jump in 2011 (a record since the data set’s 1996 inception), capacity ended the period at 63.4 gigawatts (GW), ten times greater than its level five years previously.
That’s pretty positive news. As Kurzweil notes, “We are awash in sunlight.” Just 1/10,000 of the sunlight falling on the Earth’s surface can satisfy humanity’s energy requirements. And that doesn’t imply a landscape littered with panels—in fact, an area equal to just a few percent of the Earth’s unused deserts would suffice.
via Singularity Hub
September 24, 2012
featured blogs
Apr 25, 2024
Structures in Allegro X layout editors let you create reusable building blocks for your PCBs, saving you time and ensuring consistency. What are Structures? Structures are pre-defined groups of design objects, such as vias, connecting lines (clines), and shapes. You can combi...
Apr 25, 2024
See how the UCIe protocol creates multi-die chips by connecting chiplets from different vendors and nodes, and learn about the role of IP and specifications.The post Want to Mix and Match Dies in a Single Package? UCIe Can Get You There appeared first on Chip Design....
Apr 18, 2024
Are you ready for a revolution in robotic technology (as opposed to a robotic revolution, of course)?...