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Originally Posted by photon
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This is a very interesting paper, thanks for sharing.
The paper itself presents the area generating thermal heat, which is not the same as electrical output. In the section above it states that the conversion efficiency of solar thermal plants as 18 - 23%. Second, it says that it's availability is not 100%, even in the best areas (perhaps a 95% availability as it is 80% or so for the winter). These factors weren't applied at all in deriving the area required to supply the world's electricity needs. To me, it makes for quite a misleading figure, but I guess all they're trying to communicate is POTENTIAL for the technology.
The paper also seems to support a projection that up to 80% of baseload power needs will be able to be supplied by renewables, with modern biodiesel taking up a significant portion of that, and nuclear down to zero by 2040.
I am certainly interested by these points of view but there are several practical limitations as to why this sort of mix will never happen.