Renewable Energy Sources: Application Of Solar Energy In Desert

Renewable energy is energy created using natural resources that will never run out (Australian Renewable Energy Agency, 2019). These can include tidal, wind and solar power. Renewable energy should be considered as a power source because it will never run out though is just as effective as fossil fuels. The chosen renewable energy source is solar and the chosen environment is desert. Desert is a biome that is different to all other biomes. It has next to no plants and barely any wildlife.

The chosen energy source is solar energy. Solar energy uses the light from the sun and turns it into energy. To construct a power plant for solar energy, many solar panels would be needed as well as a large open area. It would need to be in a sunny area so a desert would be the perfect environment to start a solar plant. Solar energy is quite efficient, although in night time no energy is produced. Around 230 billion kWh of energy (World Data, 2015) is used yearly in Australia so the solar power plant would have to be very large. Solar energy can be just as efficient as fossil fuels, but it is costly to set up and the Australian Government will most likely not fund it to fuel Australia.

The chosen environment is desert. Desert is an extremely large open biome that is extremely hot in the day time, and freezing in the night. Deserts cover over 1/5 of the earth (National Geographic, 2019). It has next to no vegetation. This is partly due to the extreme climate and aridness although it can also be attributed to the significant lack of rainfall in this biome. In Cochnos, Chile it didn’t rain at all for 45 years between 1919 and 1964. On average rainfall is less than 50 cm a year in this biome although because of the heat it evaporates very fast.

The chosen energy source and the chosen environment go hand in hand. Solar energy plants require a large open area as well as the sun. The desert has both of those things in abundance. One of the advantages of setting a solar energy plant in the desert is that it is not commonly populated which means no tampering of the solar panels which leads to extra power being produced. Another advantage is that because of the added heat the desert provides, extra power could be produced. A disadvantage is that the power would have to be transported to coastal areas which could be costly and slow to set up.

In conclusion, solar energy is just as effective as fossil fuels, but is too costly for the Australian Government it produces on a large scale. It would be perfect to build in a desert region as it is isolated and in view of the sun, although transporting the power produced would be a costly measure.

1. Australian Renewable Energy Agency 2019, Renewable Energy Technologies, Australian Government, Australia, viewed 19 August 2019, https://arena.gov.au/renewable-energy-technologies/
2. Deserts, facts and information, viewed 20 August 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/deserts/
3. Smith, J 2019, Desert | Definition, Climate, viewed 20 August 2019, https://www.britannica.com/science/desert/Environment
4. The Desert Biome n.d., viewed 20 August 2019, https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/deserts.html
5. World Data 2015, Energy consumption in Australia, Australia, viewed 19 August 2019, https://www.worlddata.info/australia/australia/energy-consumption.php