Government has good idea shock

[OwlHoot]

Batteries people, batteries. Capacitors, that kind of thing. It's not rocket science.

You don't even need that, just giant water tanks or reservoirs so some of the electricity produced during the day can be used to pump the water "uphill" and this can be released back down through turbines to generate eleccy at night.

(Not sure how efficient that is though, or practical given the vast scale of a project like this if it's to power dozens of European cities.)

And anyway, won't the northern African countries need much of the energy for themselves? Their populations are increasing all the time.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, dozens of thorium reactors are the solution (for the foreseeable future), and the government better get started fast before all the experts die of old age! All this renewable energy stuff is just pissing about on the margins.

[TimberWolf]

You don't even need that, just giant water tanks or reservoirs so some of the electricity produced during the day can be used to pump the water "uphill" and this can be released back down through turbines to generate eleccy at night.

(Not sure how efficient that is though, or practical given the vast scale of a project like this if it's to power dozens of European cities.)

Pretty respectable IIRC, though I forget the actual percentage. I've posted a link before to some Cambridge University professor's work that looked at energy sources in great and interesting detail and can post a link again if you're interested. The only downside to him is that he's heavily into CO2 emissions, which occupies a lot of his effort and work.

The interesting thing about pumped storage is that payback can be significantly greater than 100%, when combined with tidal power. No doubt you can figure out why.

[TheBigYinJames]

Mmmmmmmmmmm... pumped storage in a desert...

Doesn't have to be liquid. They've developed pumped gas energy storage which is pretty efficient too.

[wobbegong]

So, the plan is to replace one energy source supplied from a group with a grudge and hostile intent against the west with another source supplied from an off-shoot of the same group with a grudge against the west.

Agreed. It's not a technological problem so much as a geopolitical one.

[Diver]

And anyway, won't the northern African countries need much of the energy for themselves? Their populations are increasing all the time.

Er! I thought they were dying off in a massive Aids epidemic?

Or is that media scaremongering again?

Oh! North