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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (93816)	4/25/2008 12:14:19 AM
From: Merlinson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

That was an interesting article. It seemed pretty reasonable. The cost at 420 billion over 40 years paid for by a half cent per kW-hour carbon tax doesn't seem like too much to pay for all the benefits. We have spent about 400 billion in the last five years in direct costs for the Iraq war. Imagine having spent some of that on energy independence. I was surprised at how much land they required. It was probably somewhat due to the assumption of using 14% efficient photovoltaics. I also saw the authors were PV guys. If I remember correctly, there was a tracking dish style thermal electric prototype that got over 30% a few years ago, but that is not the type of system the Salon article envisions. I'm not sure what efficiency assumptions the author of the Salon article has made. Although I like the idea of supporting both systems initially and letting the better one win over time. A real miracle would be if the EEStor super capacitor turned out to be real. We do need a major scientific breakthrough in electrical storage/battery technology.

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (93816)	4/27/2008 1:14:16 AM
From: John Vosilla	Respond to of 110194

'Solar energy’s potential is off the chart. The energy in sunlight striking the earth for 40 minutes is equivalent to global energy consumption for a year. The U.S. is lucky to be endowed with a vast resource; at least 250,000 square miles of land in the Southwest alone are suitable for constructing solar power plants, and that land receives more than 4,500 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of solar radiation a year. Converting only 2.5 percent of that radiation into electricity would match the nation’s total energy consumption in 2006.' hey you happen to be right at ground zero as this unfolds..<g> Incredible article..thanks