California’s Powerhouse: Innovation in the Fight for Water & Energy

(0:00) Open


(0:56) The University of California System


(6:27) But California Has Problems, Yo!


(10:47) Project Nexus: Solar FTW!


(22:05) cj’s recommendation: There It Is, Take It!


(25:26) Jeff’s Recommendation: Chinatown






California has serious challenges, including a worsening water crisis and the threat it poses to the state that grows most of America’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The state’s growing electricity demands has created, among other things, a food-versus-energy conflict from the deployment of large solar farms that replace farmland.


Fortunately one of California’s numerous superpowers is their public University system.  Innovations from the UC system have shaped the modern world, from the Internet and RISC chips to CRISPR, PET scans, blue LEDs, and reverse osmosis desalination.  And now the UC system has brought us a promising solution in Project Nexus, which installs solar panels over water canals to generate clean energy while saving billions of gallons of water.


Inspired by similar efforts in India, California’s first solar-covered canal is now online, offering a potential path to statewide deployment.  Fortunately the UC system remains central to solving many of the state’s biggest challenges.



Solar-panel-covered canals have their day in the sun in California (https://www.universityofcalifornia.ed...)






Using solar panels like THIS is a no-brainer! California’s doing it (   • Using solar panels like THIS is a no-brain...  )






Project Nexus | Water & Energy Integration for the Future (   • Project Nexus | Water & Energy Integration...  )






The ‘solar canals’ making smart use of India’s space (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20...)






Canal Solar Power Project - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_S...)






Gujarat’s solar panels over canals project is a great idea for sustainable energy production | YourStory (https://yourstory.com/2017/02/gujarat...)






there it is—take it! (https://thereitistakeit.org/)






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