we can produce all our liquid fuel needs using algae farms and even better more efficient artifical green leave nanotechnology. we would have to develop innovative ways to disperse the removed ocean saline in environmental sound ways. by doing this, we would increase jobs/water/power/fuel, with resultant improvement of us trade balances, increase in tax revenues, strengthing of us dollar and lower global atmospheric co2. we could include into the system devices that trap atmospheric co2 to improve the efficiencies of the system. we could input vast us resources of wind power into this system. who knows, if we can build the system big enough, we could refill depleted underground water reservoirs with excess produced desalinated water and refill depleted oil wells with excess produced oil. once we perfect these upscale models of the system, we export the technology in global areas that have water shortages, like the middle east, africa, asia and australia (some parts of australia). this would lower chances for regional conflicts in these areas.
i think of the sahara desert which stradles the equator. due to desertation the sahara desert is now bigger than the continential us. the only thing the sun power is doing there is baking rock and sand. the potiential of this energy resource is almost unlimited. yet millions of people that live in this region struggle to survive. we can and should do better than this.
the only way to heal the planet is to direct the sun’s power to heal it. after all, all the power we have on this planet comes directly or indirectly from sun power. we just need to plug into it.