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Non-Tech : Alternative energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim S who wrote (7921)	4/23/2010 9:56:37 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16955

Thanks. It was an interesting question, and I enjoyed looking it up.. In the future, the limiting factor for the mass adoption of wind and solar, may be energy storage. The nation with the highest wind energy usage (% of total electricity) is Denmark. But they have a special situation, which doesn't apply to most other nations. Their grid is attached to the other Scandinavian nations, who have a lot of hydro power. Hydro is perfect, for balancing the supply/demand problems posed by wind and solar energy. Also, Denmark can sell excess electricity to Germany, a much larger market. In the U.S., the only area with a lot of hydropower, and also a lot of windpower potential, is the Northwest. Even there, it will require an expensive grid upgrade, if wind becomes more than a few % of the total electricity supply. disclosure: added a CSIQ short at $18.50 to my previous FSLR short at $131.