Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-L] America Could Have Dropped Big Oil Decades Ago -- What Happened?

According to an NREL report, between 2009 and 2011, $9 billion went to solar and wind projects.
Wind installations have been increasing at over 30 % per year for several years now. yet, many solar
companies that received "stimulus" money have gone bankrupt as they realized (or knew ahead of
time) that they couldn't compete with Asian companies. The government policy that is destroying the
coal and oil industries is not helping to increase use of renewables. On the contrary, harming existing
energy industries is only harming the economy and preventing our ability to have enough resources for
the continued growth of renewables. Making energy more expensive is not the answer. No matter
how much we wish for something...developing new technologies and infrastructure takes many
decades.


On 21 Jun 2012 at 17:13, Richard Hake wrote:

Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent AlterNet
article "America Could Have Dropped Big Oil Decades Ago -- What
Happened?" [Skirboll (2012)] at <http://bit.ly/NjtuDo> .

Skirboll wrote [bracketed by lines "SSSSSS. . . .; my insert at ". .
. .[[insert]]. . . ."]:

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
This story is not new. Today, solar energy is picking up momentum.
But despite the current numbers and the recent raves, the solar saga,
and that of renewable energy as a whole, has been going on for
decades. It is a history of false starts and stutter steps.

First, the good news. According to the Solar Energy Industries
Association (SEIA). . . . .[[<http://www.seia.org>]]. . . . ., 2011
showed record-breaking numbers for U.S. solar installations. The
industry's best year ever saw demand rise by 109 percent over the
previous year. With tremendous incentives and benefits for
homeowners, and as prices continue to decline, the future looks
bright for this alternative energy source.

However a quick glance to the past throws harsh light on the fact
that we've been at this precipice before. In 1978, the White House
Council on Environmental Quality issued this glowing statement: "Our
conclusion is that with a strong national commitment to accelerated
solar development and use, it should be possible to derive a quarter
of U.S. energy from solar by the year 2000. For the year 2020 and
beyond, it is now possible to speak hopefully, and unblushingly, of
the United States becoming a solar society."

The key words here being "strong national commitment". . . . .[[a
covert link is given to a news report of 2 May 1978 at
<http://bit.ly/KPjzXB>]]. . . . because just as timber, coal, oil,
gas, and nuclear received enormously strong federal support, solar
needs the same kind of government backing, which as of yet, the
sector has not seen. The statement should instead read, WE COULD
BECOME A SOLAR SOCIETY, IF ONLY WE WANTED TO BECOME A SOLAR SOCIETY.
. . . . . .[[EMPHASIS in the original]]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .