ARTICLES
Solar Energy to battle the severe water shortage in regional NSW? (continued)
Over 40 years ago I had a discussion with an American millionaire.
He didn’t look like one, but his home certainly provided the proof!
His “daily task” was to add ordinary salt, sodium chloride, to the
tanks of water he collected free, as he lived on the shores of Lake
Ontario. He then electrolysed the water, collecting the hydrogen
which he sold to his electricity provider, receiving a little more
than he was paying for power, while the chlorine also released
in the reaction dissolved in the sodium hydroxide solution as
its concentration increased, forming sodium hypochlorite,
NaClO, which he then sold as pool chlorine to the vast number
of Americans who had backyard swimming pools. It certainly
seemed a simple way to become rich – a pity I didn’t follow his
lead!
A field of wind generators - ugly, noisy, but harvesting wind to
generate electricity NSW regions of drought. Towns are running out of water
However, this article aims to offer hope to those people currently
struggling with the lack of useful rainfall, who are praying for
water to drink, for farmers to grow crops, and graziers to keep
their stock alive. In particular, I urge some of them to seriously
consider “harvesting the sunshine” since it is clear that our climate
truly has changed. We need to accept that and adjust to it, and
start using the free energy our Sun releases to provide all the
energy we need for the future, whilst we develop novel ways to
make a living and provide work for those currently without hope. Editor’s note: I have read with interest an ABC article from 2012
that suggests that use of the GAB to supply water for thirsty towns
is unlikely to be viable because the water flow through it can be
as slow as one metre per year. However, I do believe it should
still be available as a stop-gap measure provided the solar farms
are established promptly. The source for this article is https://
www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/04/04/3470245.htm.
I encourage anyone interested to read through Dr Post’s academic
opinion about the Artesian Basin.
And perhaps, just perhaps, we might even find it really is the way
to extend the life of our suffering Planet Earth, and some of its
plant and animal life before it’s too late!
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 4