logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2022
6m 1s

Why don't we cover the desert with solar...

TED Tech
About this episode
Stretching over roughly nine million square kilometers and with sands reaching temperatures of up to 80° Celsius, the Sahara Desert receives about 22 million terawatt hours of energy from the Sun every year. That's well over 100 times more energy than humanity consumes annually. So, could covering the desert with solar panels solve our energy problems? Dan Kwartler digs into the possibility. [Directed by Christoph Sarow, AIM Creative Studios, narrated by Jack Cutmore-Scott, music by André Aires].

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Aug 22
A survival guide for musicians in the age of AI | Harvey Mason jr.
Artificial intelligence can write a song in seconds, but does that mean human songwriters will become obsolete? Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. doesn’t think so. A songwriter himself, he offers a four-step “survival guide” for human creators to endure the age of AI, urging ... Show More
15m 36s
Aug 15
Why your phone battery gets worse over time | George Zaidan
Almost all batteries, even single-use batteries, are theoretically rechargeable. That's because the metals and other chemicals are still there in the battery. So chemically speaking, a dead battery is actually not that different from a fresh one. Then why do batteries die in the ... Show More
9m 47s
Aug 8
Will AI make humans extinct? | Yoshua Bengio
Yoshua Bengio — the world's most-cited computer scientist and a "godfather" of artificial intelligence — is deadly concerned about the current trajectory of the technology. As AI models race toward full-blown agency, Bengio warns that they've already learned to deceive, cheat, se ... Show More
15m 42s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2023
Tapping Solar Power in Space
Caltech research scientist Austin Fikes talks about capturing solar energy in space with a satellite that would relay the power to Earth. 
18m 25s
Sep 2021
The untapped energy source that could power the planet | Jamie C. Beard
Deep beneath your feet is a molten ball of energy the same temperature as the surface of the sun -- an immense clean energy source that could power the world thousands of times over, says technologist and climate activist Jamie C. Beard. How do we tap it? She lays out a surprisin ... Show More
15m 4s
Jan 2023
Where does the sand in a desert come from?
From Lawrence of Arabia to Star Wars via tales of intrepid adventurers traversing lonely sand-swept landscapes, deserts have always had a powerful pull on the popular imagination. But if a desert is full of sand, where did all that sand come from in the first place? That is what ... Show More
27m 56s
Oct 2021
Could we completely switch to renewable energy?
As the world slowly moves away from using fossil fuels for electricity, one tiny Scottish island has proved it’s possible to rely almost entirely on renewables. The inner Hebridean isle of Eigg used to get its power from diesel generators. But in 2008 its residents launched the w ... Show More
34m 40s
Jul 2021
Tapping the sun beneath our feet
Could geothermal energy provide a big missing piece in the puzzle of how to decarbonise the world economy? And do we need the help of oil companies to make use of it?Laurence Knight visits the UK's first ever geothermal power project at United Downs in Cornwall. The project's man ... Show More
17m 27s
Jun 2020
Nigerian internet land rights costs fall
A major problem in laying internet cables in Nigeria is the phenomenal cost of right of way charges – these are local state imposed fees to broadband providers. Ekiti, one of Nigeria’s smallest states, has cut its right of way charges by 96%. It will now cost $374 to lay a kilome ... Show More
50m 23s
Sep 2023
Green and novel: the future of energy generation
Harnessing energy directly in space and from the ocean flow 
57m 38s
Aug 2021
How can smart tech tackle climate change?
Humans are responsible for emitting over 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year – and we all know that we need to reduce that figure to prevent devastating climate change. Listener Saugat wonders whether smart technology and artificial intelligence can ... Show More
37m 49s