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This is totally unresearched, but my gut says it would be much higher ROI for Europe + North America to independently source solar from their respective nearby

This is totally unresearched, but my gut says it would be much higher ROI for Europe + North America to independently source solar from their respective nearby deserts, paired with batteries?

tdrz 2y ago
I would hope Europe has learned a lesson not to depend on unreliable partners for its energy.
- xandrius 2y ago
  But if it's cheaper, let's take those easy wins and think about that later!
  - dyauspitr 2y ago
    If it’s cheaper, vastly cleaner and viable, we shouldn’t let isolationist cynicism ruin that opportunity. Without oil from the Middle East and Russia, a lot of the world would grind to halt, but most countries cannot rely on their own reserves so the isolationist angle doesn’t even come up.
    - xandrius 2y ago
      Sounds like exactly what the seller of commodity X would say to me considering not buying commodity X fron them anymore when switching to something else.
- michaelt 2y ago
  The stability of any country you rely on for power is indeed a major concern. Alas during the previous Trump presidency, Europe saw that modern Republican 'America First' thinking doesn't just call for a wall with Mexico, a travel ban with Muslim countries, and a trade war with China - it also wants a trade war with Europe. And linking the south of Spain to the north of Morocco only needs ~200km of undersea cable, rather than the ~6000km an EU-to-US link would call for. That's a pretty big benefit.
csomar 2y ago
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELMED_interconnector#:~:text=The%20ELMED%20interconnector%2C%20also%20known,cable%20between%20Italy%20and%20Tunisia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELMED_interconnector#:~:text.... This is already in the works and secured financing recently. It’s a smaller link but it’s a start. Also Tunisia trade electricity with Libya and Algeria; so technically they could be selling electricity to Europe through that link.

This is totally unresearched, but my gut says it would be much higher ROI for Europe + North America to independently source solar from their respective nearby deserts, paired with batteries?

tdrz 2y ago

I would hope Europe has learned a lesson not to depend on unreliable partners for its energy.

xandrius 2y ago
But if it's cheaper, let's take those easy wins and think about that later!
- dyauspitr 2y ago
  If it’s cheaper, vastly cleaner and viable, we shouldn’t let isolationist cynicism ruin that opportunity. Without oil from the Middle East and Russia, a lot of the world would grind to halt, but most countries cannot rely on their own reserves so the isolationist angle doesn’t even come up.
  - xandrius 2y ago
    Sounds like exactly what the seller of commodity X would say to me considering not buying commodity X fron them anymore when switching to something else.
michaelt 2y ago
The stability of any country you rely on for power is indeed a major concern. Alas during the previous Trump presidency, Europe saw that modern Republican 'America First' thinking doesn't just call for a wall with Mexico, a travel ban with Muslim countries, and a trade war with China - it also wants a trade war with Europe. And linking the south of Spain to the north of Morocco only needs ~200km of undersea cable, rather than the ~6000km an EU-to-US link would call for. That's a pretty big benefit.

csomar 2y ago

> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELMED_interconnector#:~:text=The%20ELMED%20interconnector%2C%20also%20known,cable%20between%20Italy%20and%20Tunisia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELMED_interconnector#:~:text.... This is already in the works and secured financing recently. It’s a smaller link but it’s a start. Also Tunisia trade electricity with Libya and Algeria; so technically they could be selling electricity to Europe through that link.