The Importance of Efficiency in Solar Energy

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The amount of energy coming every year from the sun equals let's say I thousand, nine thousand times the amount of energy being consumed using all the different sources of energy. But if the sun is so ubiquitous and huge then who cares if it is only 20 percent efficient on the solar panels? "This is just one of the many problems that we have with all the systems devoted to the gaffering river energy," he says.

On this episode, physicist Antonio Turiel joins me for a wide-ranging discussion from oceans and climate to energy and culture. Oceans are one of the most important factors regulating the Earth’s climate, and yet they receive relatively little attention from the climate community. There are numerous critical risk factors to unpack regarding just the oceans alone - and still so much that we don’t know. This conversation also delves into the complexity of an economic system requiring continuous growth itself embedded in an Earth system that is already hitting its limits. What are the boundaries of our energy systems and what options do we have - and not have - for the future? Is the root of the critical issue we’re facing - not a technical problem - but a cultural problem?

About Antonio Turiel:

Antonio Turiel Martínez is a scientist and activist with a degree in Physics and Mathematics and a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He works as a senior scientist at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the CSIC specializing in remote sensing, turbulence, sea surface salinity, water cycle, sea surface temperature, sea surface currents, and chlorophyll concentration. He has written more than 80 scientific articles, but he is better known as an online activist and editor of The Oil Crash blog, where he addresses sensitive issues about the depletion of conventional fossil fuel resources, such as the peak of oil and its possible implications on a world scale.

To watch this video episode on Youtube → https://youtu.be/n1fIkS4y798

Show Notes & Links to Learn More: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/65-antonio-turiel