Long-term scenarios for energy and environment: Energy from the desert with very large solar plants using liquid hydrogen and superconducting technologies

Among the long-term energy scenarios identified by major international organizations in order to drastically reduce fossil fuels consumption and to develop a sustainable energy system within the 21st century, the exploitation of desert areas for large-scale renewable energy production, must be seriously considered. Desert areas are characterized by large land availability, with high levels of solar radiation and wind. However, apart from generating costs (which should fall down in future), two main problems have to be faced. First, fluctuations of renewable power availability may lead to electric grid instability, reducing the quality of energy supply. Second, since deserts are typically far from energy-demanding areas, large power transport lines are needed. The system proposed in this paper resorts to the use of liquid hydrogen (LH2) for energy storage, and to the combined transport of electric energy and LH2 with a MgB2 superconducting line. The system allows flexible delivering of energy in electric and chemical form, depending on end-users demands.