A few hundred billion dollars here, a few hundred billion
dollars there and pretty soon you're talking serious money.
Ping.
Nobody, not even the government, can create a market where one doesn’t exist naturally.
Call me crazy, but I'm starting to think that it's a boondoggle.
Wasteful subsidies like tax credits for watching others install a monster PV solar electric system for bipartisan, middle class, debt-supported suburbanites. But those modules look so cool on the McMansion (other story, see real estate pork and derivatives failure). ;-)
I wonder how many BTU’s you can get burning a solar panel in your fireplace?
A few hundred billion dollars here, a few hundred billion
dollars there and pretty soon you're talking serious money.
Solar energy is a concept that LOOKS so damn simple, but obviously only on paper.
I guess it is mostly due to poor watt density of collectors.
Whatever, the concept is obviously tailor made for scam artist and Obama type crooks.
Without taxpayer subsidies, it could not exist.
In the short run of say the next half century, oil will be cheaper than solar.
Algae is the next order of oil. The cost of exploration and recovery plus the political costs have created a small but significant market shift. New technologies in growing algae farms will make it possible for nations to grow their own oil. Not only for our nation but for China, India, and other oil poor nations.
This will act as a cap to the price of oil. Yes it will take time to develop the capacity. And yes, it will only be a trickle at first. No, it is not just around the corner. But the trend has started. Soon (15 to 20 years?) algae for oil will be another farm crop. One that can grow on poor soil and arid climates. Much of the south western US qualifies as desert to semi-arid land. Much of the south west is not really farm land now. At best, it is poor grazing land. But it could be used for algae farming once the infrastructure is put in place.
Production rates of 2,000 barrels per acre per year have been demonstrated. That works out to 1.25 million barrels per square mile. The US currently consumes about 6.6 billion barrels per year. At 100 percent replacement, that would required about 7,000 square miles be converted to algae production.
The total land of the US is 3,700,000 million square miles. Less than 2/10ths of one percent of the land mass would be required.
This seems like a much better use / conversion of solar energy - to algae then oil instead of to electricity.
And when these companies go out of business there’s going to be no warranty on all those solar panels they sold that were supposed to be good for 20+ years...
That could create a substantial cost increase to operate these panels long term over what was planned for.
