[RayChuang88]

Here's the problem with solar power: you need huge swaths of land for solar power plant to generate a decent amount of power. And that could threaten desert environments, too.

No wonder why there is now a lot of major research into the molten salt reactor nuclear power plant, a reactor design that has just about none of the downsides of conventional nuclear reactors and there is enough thorium-232 on Earth and the Moon to power Earth's energy needs for tens of thousands of years at current consumption rates.

[cuban leaf]

Well, I have 32 acres, about 15 of it completely cleared. I could throw in 10,000 watts of cells on bare ground without even batting an eye, not to mention what I could put on my roof.

Seems to me that if every home had a roof of solar cells, this would be a form of “vast swaths of land” for solar.

But people would have too much freedom in such a situation, especially as it takes less and less power to live (led’s, microwave ovens, insulated homes, etc.).

[grania]

I've wondered about the threat to desert environments, too. These solar panel environments have to have an impact on the desert environment, I'd think. I wouldn't even try to guess whether it will increase or decrease rain, heat, certain animal populations at the expense of others. Will kinds of vegetation thrive that will impact the fragile desert plantlife?

It's not like we can trust the treehuggers. They don't seem to care at at all about eagle-killing windmills.