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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (381309)	3/29/2003 5:06:56 PM
From: Krowbar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Wind power is definitely competitive with fossil fuel plants. Warren Buffett doesn't invest in wind power because he wants to revive the hippie movement. It makes economical sense. When the true cost of the pollution and acid rain, etc., of fossil fuel plants is factored in, it's a no-brainer. That's why the parrots here don't get it. Would you rather have a fossil fuel plant with huge fluctuations in price, or free wind for your fuel? Duh. I didn't mean to imply that solar will be a "whole lot cheaper" in a few years, just that it will be competitive with conventional plants. In places like Hawaii that have to import fuel to produce electricity, it already is. It is about 20 times cheaper than it was 20 years ago. I have never heard of a toxicity problem with disposing of spent solar panels. There may be some exotic metals used in experimental panels, but most of them use silicon, the same as computer chips. A lot of solar panels use the "scrap" from the chip factories. My favorite is thin film on stainless steel rolls that can be manufactured into "shingles", or applied directly to steel roof panels. The company is Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), and is my biggest stock holding. Del