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If you know the science behind ethanol and hydrogen, they were never promising areas of research in terms of a viable alternative energy.
Just as solar is not a viable, long term energy source. It will by its very nature a supplemental source of energy.
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Without government funding, we'd definitely be worse off as a country. If a business in the free market could make money for decades by selling the same product without making it better, they would. The oil industry is a prime example. We've been using oil for 100 years.
LOL I hope you don't really believe that statement! The very nature of a free market ensures competition which means advancement happens naturally. Without the government taking companies tax dollars, companies would be able to allocate additional money towards R&D instead of paying an incredibly inefficient government work force to come up with ideas. You also assume private industry would not have come up with things like velcro, or a PC. I think that is naive. In addition, while the government might provide funding, it's private companies that come up with the majority of technological advancement.
The oil industry is a perfect example of letting the free market work. There is no viable alternative to oil at this time to compete with its energy and price point, nor has there ever been. When the free market discovers a new fuel source, it will be used (algae bio diesel possibly). Oil companies know their time is running out so therefore are investing billions into alternative energy - and they will do it better than our government could ever hope to. The US government tried to force ethanol down our throats and it was a complete disaster - it is not even close to being viable without huge government subsidies. The same goes for solar panels. Government is NOT the solution, it is the problem!
I think if you look up 'incredible' it means 'beyond belief or understanding', so I would agree with you.
Maybe some day this will become a believable power source, for for now it is TinkerBell time.
I'm up for having the debate on this, but I wish you would provide evidence to support your position instead of simply calling millions of people powering their homes from the sun, "TinkerBell time."
Just as solar is not a viable, long term energy source. It will by its very nature a supplemental source of energy.
LOL I hope you don't really believe that statement! The very nature of a free market ensures competition which means advancement happens naturally. Without the government taking companies tax dollars, companies would be able to allocate additional money towards R&D instead of paying an incredibly inefficient government work force to come up with ideas. You also assume private industry would not have come up with things like velcro, or a PC. I think that is naive. In addition, while the government might provide funding, it's private companies that come up with the majority of technological advancement.
The oil industry is a perfect example of letting the free market work. There is no viable alternative to oil at this time to compete with its energy and price point, nor has there ever been. When the free market discovers a new fuel source, it will be used (algae bio diesel possibly). Oil companies know their time is running out so therefore are investing billions into alternative energy - and they will do it better than our government could ever hope to. The US government tried to force ethanol down our throats and it was a complete disaster - it is not even close to being viable without huge government subsidies. The same goes for solar panels. Government is NOT the solution, it is the problem!
I think you think I'm an anti-free market person. I never said that. I've seen this happen before. Nowadays, the government has been demonized so much that if anyone says anything good about the government, people think they are against capitalism and the free market. It's obvious that you're an anti-government person. That's fine and obviously I don't agree with that.
There are problems with both the government and the free market and there are good things about both. I think that together they drive our economy. For example, without government spending, the internet would not even exist, but without the free market, it would not have exploded into what it is today.
This has turned into a political discussion, and I think the the thread is really about the merits of solar panels. You say that they are not a viable, long term energy source, but you don't explain why.
This has turned into a political discussion, and I think the the thread is really about the merits of solar panels. You say that they are not a viable, long term energy source, but you don't explain why.
Isn't it obvious? The sun only shines for half a day. And even then there is not always bright sunshine out, which reduces the amount of power produced significantly.
And don't mention batteries. If you're going to put batteries on every house you're looking at an extreme amount of costs and environmental impact.
While the internet was invented by the US government, it's naive to think that had they not come up with the concept a private company would not have either.
Government has a job to play in our society - a very small job. This nonsense that we need government to advance our society is hogwash. Government actually hinders advancement because its so inefficient with spending our tax dollars.
Isn't it obvious? The sun only shines for half a day. And even then there is not always bright sunshine out, which reduces the amount of power produced significantly.
And don't mention batteries. If you're going to put batteries on every house you're looking at an extreme amount of costs and environmental impact.
While the internet was invented by the US government, it's naive to think that had they not come up with the concept a private company would not have either.
Government has a job to play in our society - a very small job. This nonsense that we need government to advance our society is hogwash. Government actually hinders advancement because its so inefficient with spending our tax dollars.
Your point is that since you only get an average of 12 hrs of daylight each day, getting power from those 12 hrs is not a viable long term energy source? I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the sun will keep shining those 12 hrs a day for a few more billion years. I'd say that's a pretty good long term source for energy.
Yeah, cloudy days reduce the power you get, but any power you don't use on sunny days, you get credit for from the power company. So, on cloudy days you can use those credits and not pay anything. It's like using the power company as your battery storage. Again, you have a powerful energy source just waiting to be taken advantage of. Why not use it? The technology is there and it's advancing at a faster rate every year. More and more businesses are getting into R&D and producing more more efficient panels (see any similarities). The ones today are very viable and the ones next year will be better. Your approach is like someone inventing an early computer saying, "Look, we made this machine that can do math, isn't it great," then stopping there.
Solar panels are viable now, and if they weren't, millions of people wouldn't be installing them. It's not that hard to do the math. I have a spreadsheet that calculates the cost of a system and the return on your investment. The calculations take into consideration your location, hrs of sunlight, average cloudy days, etc. and guess what? It's viable.
Regarding the internet, you think it's naive for me to think that a company would not have come up the internet on their own? I have a computer science degree and work in the IT industry. I've been interested in and researched technology my whole life. From that perspective, I can definitely say that, yeah, it would not have happened without the government. Call me naive.
This has turned into a political discussion, and I think the the thread is really about the merits of solar panels.
Yea, let's discuss the merits.
1. Installing solar panels means spending upfront saves money in the long term. This is achieved by having all of your neighbors chip in (through taxes) to subsidize your panels. So you end up with more money in your pocket, but taking it from your neighbors.
2. After installing solar panels you can feel extremely smug. You can then rub this in your neighbor's faces, how using their money you are saving the environment and that makes you a better person.
Sure, the critics will say overall we will all be worse off, that the country would be better off investing in energy that benefits everyone, but installing solar panels now benefits you and lets be honest, who cares about anyone else?
1. Installing solar panels means spending upfront saves money in the long term. This is achieved by having all of your neighbors chip in (through taxes) to subsidize your panels. So you end up with more money in your pocket, but taking it from your neighbors.
2. After installing solar panels you can feel extremely smug. You can then rub this in your neighbor's faces, how using their money you are saving the environment and that makes you a better person.
Sure, the critics will say overall we will all be worse off, that the country would be better off investing in energy that benefits everyone, but installing solar panels now benefits you and lets be honest, who cares about anyone else?
1. That's still not really talking about the merits of solar panels in and of themselves, but OK you're against taxes paying for something you don't want. Unfortunately, that's how taxes work. It's something we all have to deal with. I have no kids, but I pay taxes for my neighbor to send his kids to public school. I don't mind doing it because the public school system benefits the country as a whole. If you don't think the technology will benefit the country as a whole, then explain why, but if it's about taxes, then I guess you're advocating that everybody should send their kids to private schools.
2. You don't know me or how I would feel or how I talk to my neighbors, so I'd appreciate it if you would not act like you do.
The people who install solar panels first are paying the most and getting the least because in five years they will be a whole lot cheaper and a whole lot more effective. The people installing them now are causing more businesses to get into the market, making it more competitive, and driving down costs, so that in five years others can afford them. So, if I do install solar panels now, I am positively affecting someone else.
Ugh, system ate my long reply. Put it simply, solar power is 100% renewable and doesn't take energy from some other earth-bound source. EVERY other power option does, and has some impact on the planet's ecology. Probably wind and geo-thermal being the least disruptive. So, from what I am seeing, that or fission/fusion power is inevitable and soon, within my lifetime or my childrens.
That said, soembody has to take the plunge, and I will probably purchase panels within the next few years. At the very least I am getting energy from a clean and unlimited resource, which doing so has zero impact (beyond the manufacture which is not trivial).
check out Green Project Energy inc. ( www.greenprojectenergy.com (broken link) ) in Cary, NC. Those guys can help you answering all your questions ...
They got Solar Panels, Wind turbines, inverters .. all you need to start saving money in a long term and helping our environment
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