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posted by
martyb
on Sunday May 24 2015, @08:12PM
from the price-of-sunlight-and-wind-is-pretty-constant dept.
from the price-of-sunlight-and-wind-is-pretty-constant dept.
Over the last 5 years, the price of new wind power in the US has dropped 58% and the price of new solar power has dropped 78%. Utility-scale solar in the West and Southwest is now at times cheaper than new natural gas plants. Even after removing the federal solar Investment Tax Credit of 30%, a recent New Mexico solar deal is priced at 6 cents / kwh. By contrast, new natural gas electricity plants have costs between 6.4 to 9 cents per kwh, according to the EIA.
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Renewables are Disruptive to Coal and Gas
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Anyone can make an omelet with eggs. The trick is to make one with none.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @12:41PM
goal, oil, gas are limited (unless there's a huge teleporter hidden somewhere in the earth and friendly aliens replenishing it).
they can be polluting.
you can oxidize the stuff day and night.
the sun shines for free ... every DAY. sometimes more, sometimes less.
nevertheless the same sun gave dinosaurs sunburn a million years ago.
storage is a "problem" if you want it to be a problem.
electricity is consumed all the time.
you cannot turn it off (like a water tank) and "store" it in the wire.
it has to be produced continuously.
we have to change our perspective. a solar "installation" needs to be viewed like a appliance. like a tv and like fridge. it has to become as simple to use and install as all our other house appliances.
FiT is "good" ... for a time. it brought down the prices of solarpanels and inverters etc. but let's be honest: who pays for the FiT? the people who don't (yet?) have solar grid-tie or cannot afford it.
we have to stop trying to profit from solar, methinks and just use what we produce. and this should become super simple. like plugging in a new fridge or tv or whatnot.
farms should be banned! why are you solar farmers trying to sell me (non solar-user) something that is basically free and if i wish i can do it too? afterall the sun shines for me too!
maybe in 20 years if new houses come with sticker:"produces 1 kw" per default and we decide to go all-out solar we can start thinking about throwing all "green" anti-dam protestors in prison and build more reservoirs for fishes and save the "sweet" water from becoming salty and ... waaaah! hydrogen etc. etc.
Anyways: everybody should have a 2 (?) kilo watt allowance from birth to produce electricity. set it up someplace and if you go to the mall (which uses electricity) it will come from your birthright 2 kW at home (nobody is using it at home now), or if you step into a lift or escalator (which uses electricity) it will be powered also from your birthright as a human in an enlightend society.
see how you can check your email from everywhere? see how you can use YOUR generated electricity everywhere too? same same!
[end rant]
[not really]
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Monday May 25 2015, @04:42PM
If you wed and/or have offspring does the head of household control the KW? What about the mentally ill, who controls their allotment? And the homeless? The poor? And many more... How can you say how much of the Sun's energy I can have? Taking more does not deplete it. IOW I think your idea is bad and you should feel bad for suggesting it. Utopia will never happen. Enlightenment can not be had by the entire populace - I cite Buddha and the TeaParty as my evidence. You can not force enlightenment without a police state and a surveillance state - I will not accept either and am willing to fight against it as are many others. One authoritarian regime is not better than another regardless of what you think are my best interests.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."