vboring

Recession? I've Got a Solution

three things:

"afflicted", not "inflicted"

i'm with you on the diagnosis and the domestic energy production idea as a solution. low interest rates will be an incredible boon for large capital projects like new energy construction.

but coal to fuel has fundamental energy problems. energy problems don't just go away with thing like miniaturization of chips or evolution of materials (the way that cell phones and cars got better). energy problems deal much closer to the edges of the laws of physics. so, the coal-to-liquids technology today is probably about 90% as good as it will ever be in terms of coal-to-liquid conversion efficiency (and thus CO2/gallon of fuel produced).

i like non-silicon solar, breeder-reactor nukes, tree-crop biofuels, and PHEVs as domestic energy solutions.

Renewable Energy: Approaching Grid Parity?

solar has only achieved grid parity in terms of cost in places with massive subsidies, only according to the most idealistic assumptions, and only in places with the worst power system management.

take away the subsidies and mandates, and add some reality and you end up with coal delivered for about $.06/kWh in most places and solar for about $.25/kWh.

this is why there are several new large scale coal plants being built in Nevada. to economically serve California's load without emitting CO2 in California.

Hawaii has huge access to geothermal that they have chosen not to develop so far because the volcano is considered sacred.

FSLR may make huge piles of cash, but most of it will be from idealism, subsidies, and mandates, not from a better energy product.