frflyer

Investing In a Resource-Constrained World (Part V)

To argue against solar energy because it needs subsidies is absurd pretzel logic. The amount being argued for and against in congress is $6 billion for one year for solar wind geothermal and all the other alternatives, excluding ethanol, which if I'm not mistaken gets $9 billion. Coal gets $3 billion. and the oil industry by one estimate gets $84 billion annually in tax credits and subsidies. The internet and high speed information highway was paid for with massive subsidies. Weren't the railroads and rural electrification heavily subsidized? The amount of subsidies for solar is miniscule. The argument based on their subsidies is misleading at best.

Photovoltaics have been improving in efficiency and cost at a rapic clip for 20 years and the improvements continue.
And you do not mention solar thermal power plants which can already produce electricity at 8-12 cents a KWH.--competitive with gas and coal. They are so low tech we could have built them 100 years ago. It you can build a parabolic reflector or fresnel reflector and steam powered generators you can build solar thermal power plants.
In addition to that, anything we build uses energy to make. Where does the argument end?

What we need for the time being is plug in hybrid cars to cut down on gasoline usage. The average American driver would get 100 miles per gallon overall, doing almost all their commuting on battery power. They cost more to build, but even at $1.75 gasoline, the fuel savings would pay for the difference over the life of the car. At $4-5 gasoline you are saving wads of money. And they would cost less to make when economies of scale reduce their cost. You recharge the battery at night for $1 of electricity, during off peak demand. The grid can already handle that according to people in the power industry.

And the rationale that we shouldn't undertake what will eventually pay off(solar and wind), because it uses energy now, is just more shortsightedness. We've had enough of that to last a lifetie or two.