Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
By Institute for Energy Research Saturday, January 18, 2014
Quote:
The economics and environmental consequences of solar energy are finally hitting home to developers, with many more cancellations than construction of large solar facilities. Since 2009, there have been 365 federal applications for solar facilities, but of those, only 20 plants are on track to be built and only 3 large scale solar plants have gone on line—2 in California and one in Nevada
UK and Europeans countries are cutting back on “Green” energy sources as being uneconomical so this shouldn't surprise us here in the US. The idea might be good but the technology just hasn't reached the level of being useful. But, certain elements are certainly pushing it. Painfully watched the first episode of Helix on TV and the first thing I noticed was the giant windmills surround it. They trying to tell us that the huge facility inside is solely powered by them?
Silly statement. Whether solar makes financial sense for investors depends upon how regulator set payments. It has nothing to do with economic fundamentals.
I won't take the risk to link to that site, which is run by an eccentric Canadian Conservative named Judi McLeod, and which has been described by the Toronto Star as a "whacko news site."
The article is purported to be from the Institute for Energy Research, a libertarian think-tank which has been funded in the past by ExxonMobil, and is known for its position as a climate change denier.
In other words, it's predictably a highly biased piece that simply regurgitates a couple of old reports which have been previously discussed here.
Bird deaths are unfortunate, but a seemingly inevitable result of constructing even quite ordinary buildings with glass windows. The 36 bird deaths reported over a years time from this enormous solar site seem to me, if anything, quite low.
A lot of the proposed developments that have been dropped ran into big challenges and delays with the environmental review and permitting process that made the projects financially unlikely to succeed. I support comprehensive, rigorous reviews, but in some cases... like in the offshore wind turbine projects in New England... I think the process has been abused. There's no such thing as a "zero impact" energy source, as the rash of recent railroad oil tanker explosions should remind us.
Green energy technology isn't useful yet? It's already in use all over the globe, and is steadily increasing. As I've previously noted, here on the Big Island already over 40% of the electricity sold by our utility company is supplied by non-polluting, non-fossil fuel sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc. with a goal of hitting 50% of the total by 2015. And now, even China is announcing new plans to reduce air pollution, which has hit record levels this year, with new solar and wind energy projects.
You want to make solar energy even more economically feasible? How about our governments subsidize it to the levels that oil and gas were subsidized when they were an emerging energy source in the 10's/20's? It's time to level the playing field folks, and put a stop to the strangle hold big oil has on the government.
Looks like Green Energy is getting put into a level playing field in Germany
Keep in mind that Germany has large coal deposits, and that those who own the coal resources want to eliminate both nuclear energy and green energy from their marketplace, and they have a current swell of political influence to drive that agenda. It's the same tug of war that is going on here. Looking only at bottom line costs discounts the future costs and societal effects from environmental pollution.
I support comprehensive, rigorous reviews, but in some cases... like in the offshore wind turbine projects in New England... I think the process has been abused.
You mean the one with the contract for 18.5 cent per kWh that increases 2.5% per year for 15 years? That's wholesale, before distribution...
Quote:
...here on the Big Island already over 40% of the electricity sold by our utility company is supplied by non-polluting, non-fossil fuel sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc.
Considering that is the most abundant local resource it makes sense instead of importing energy , yes? It's going sown to about 5 degrees where I live for about the next week. Solar is out of the question, I don't have a volcano in back yard and the wind doesn't blow enough here to amount to much. Just because something makes absolute sense in Hawaii doesn;t mean it makes sense everywhere.
Silly statement. Whether solar makes financial sense for investors depends upon how regulator set payments. It has nothing to do with economic fundamentals.
Translation: How much it's subsidized by the taxpayer and ratepayer.
Keep in mind that Germany has large coal deposits, and that those who own the coal resources want to eliminate both nuclear energy and green energy from their marketplace, and they have a current swell of political influence to drive that agenda. It's the same tug of war that is going on here. Looking only at bottom line costs discounts the future costs and societal effects from environmental pollution.
I'd imagine the second highest electric rates in Europe that are about 3X what they are here have nothing to do with it.
Translation: How much it's subsidized by the taxpayer and ratepayer.
All forms of energy are subsidized. There is no free market for retail electricity. Someone has to make resource allocation decisions and in most states that is the public utility commission. Whining about subsidies just displays your ignorance of the decision making process.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
