Solution to Global Warming or . . . ?

[macdoc]

I don't think you quite grasp the power requirements. Nuclear maybe but you are not going to "reforest" a desert in any number of lifetimes.

Some with an algae aspect might have some impact in a reasonable time frame but that carries risks as well.

 

[r-j]

If you have a source of fresh water you can reforest a desert in twenty years. Crops in a few months. There are huge amounts of desert land already turned into lush greenery and food. Solar and wind could both desalinate as well as pump water from the oceans. This is already done of course, but not with the goal of soaking up the excess CO2.

That it would also provide food makes it a win win situation. Cheaper and safer than building 10,000 nuclear reactors as well.

 

[Trakar]

Windmills and solar power could be used to desalinate and irrigate the vast deserts of the world, creating more than enough new growth to send us right into an ice age.

Care to provide some numbers and other compelling supportive evidences for these assertions?

 

[macdoc]

If you have a source of fresh water you can reforest a desert in twenty years. Crops in a few months. There are huge amounts of desert land already turned into lush greenery and food. Solar and wind could both desalinate as well as pump water from the oceans. This is already done of course, but not with the goal of soaking up the excess CO2.

That it would also provide food makes it a win win situation. Cheaper and safer than building 10,000 nuclear reactors as well.

You need to do some serious reading about how much power is required to desalinate and pump water around and how many of hectares of wind and solar to equal a single nuclear plant.
Learn something

See the little square in the corner - that's a nuclear plant.

The larger areas are the amount that of solar and wind needed and that does not allow for any storage.

The black outline - the entire state of Rhode Island.

http://www.cleanenergyinsight.org/energy-insights/what-does-renewable-energy-look-like/

Wind also is not suitable everywhere at all.

The solar project in northern Africa to supply Europe is struggling tho it still is a good idea and the scale is unimaginable.

Long term nukes offer the lowest cost and maximum flexibility and steady power.
Lead times are long and in the US admin costs are ridiculous.

It is under no circumstances any way to directly reduce C02 from existing levels tho they can offer relief from future emissions.

 

[r-j]

The basic principles of solar water distillation are simple, yet effective, as distillation replicates the way nature makes rain. The sun's energy heats water to the point of evaporation. As the water evaporates, water vapor rises, condensing on the glass surface for collection. This process removes impurities, such as salts and heavy metals, and eliminates microbiological organisms. The end result is water cleaner than the purest rainwater.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_stil

Continuous drainage is necessary to keep Holland from flooding. In earlier centuries windmills were used for this task. The landscape was (and in places still is) dotted with windmills, which have become a symbol of Holland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland#Geography

In 1952 the United States military developed a portable solar still for pilots stranded on the ocean, which comprises a large inflatable 24-inch plastic ball that floats on the ocean, with a flexible tube coming out the side. A separate plastic bag hangs from attachment points on the outer bag. Seawater is poured into the inner bag from an opening in the ball's neck. Fresh water is taken out by the pilot using the side tube that leads to bottom of the inflatable ball. It was stated in magazine articles that on a good day 2.5 US quarts (2.4 l) of fresh water could be produced. On an overcast day, 1.5 US quarts (1.4 l) was produced.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still#Seawater_still

 

[r-j]

If you use the sun to distill ocean water, and the wind to pump it into the desert, it would be easy and require no fossil fuels to reclaim the desert.

 

[Mikemcc]

If you use the sun to distill ocean water, and the wind to pump it into the desert, it would be easy and require no fossil fuels to reclaim the desert.

Except it needs more than sun and energy to do so. The desert has very little in the way of nutrients to support major growthy in any sort of reasonable time frame. You can use it to start growing grasses, then shrubs, then other crops that can be recycled into the soil. But whow's going to finance 20-50 year projects...?

Nobody in their right mind pipes water with anything other than gravity (unless thay have no other choise - i.e las Vegas) because the value per tonne is waaaay too low.

 

[r-j]

Except it needs more than sun and energy to do so. The desert has very little in the way of nutrients to support major growth in any sort of reasonable time frame. You can use it to start growing grasses, then shrubs, then other crops that can be recycled into the soil.

You haven't ever actually been in a desert, have you?

 

[Mikemcc]

You haven't ever actually been in a desert, have you?

Yes I have, more times than I care to remember, have you?