Mr. Shi thinks, as I do, that renewable clean power - wind, solar, bio-fuels - is going to be the growth industry of the 21st century, and he wants to make sure that China and his company, Suntech Power Holdings, are the leaders. Only 43 years old and full of energy himself, Mr. Shi hopes to do for solar energy what China did for tennis shoes: drive down the cost so that millions of people who could not afford solar photovoltaic panels will be able to do so.
As an environmentalist, I wish him well. As an American, I worry that if we don't start doing everything we can to develop our own clean power, we're going to miss out on the green industrial revolution. Today, most of our hybrid cars are imported from Japan. Tomorrow, if Mr. Shi has his way, most of our solar panels will come from China.
What Mr. Shi understands is that China is going to have to go green. Its rivers and air are becoming so polluted it has no choice. In fact, as he and I spoke in his 66th-floor office in Shanghai, the air was so dirty you could barely make out the skyscrapers down the street. America, alas, still seems to think it has a choice in going green. So while China will be compelled to move into this industry, U.S. companies may or may not, depending on whether states, or Washington, require power providers to generate energy from renewables.
For years our brain-dead Congress thought it was helping our power companies and manufacturers by not imposing tough energy-efficiency standards on them. In fact, it was just helping some of them commit suicide. Congress's idiotic decision not to impose higher mileage standards on U.S. carmakers helped Detroit miss the market and almost go bankrupt. China already has higher mileage standards for its autos than we do.
http://www.rense.com/general75/solar.htm
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on March 12, 2007]
Note: http://www.rense.com/ge...
China Poised To Lead Home Solar Cell Explosion
Posted on Sunday, March 11 at 14:05 by DiogenesContributed By
Topic
Article Rating
(0 votes)
Options
Stumble It!Comments
view comments in forum
Page 1
However, even low-cost cells, but used in urban areas on the grid, will have the effect of increasing the price of electric power!
Because once a day it gets dark, and in Canada a significant number of days are without sunlight, connection to the grid is still required. The central power plants supplying the grid will have a lower usage factor which increases the cost of the power that is produced because the fixed costs remain just that: they are incurred whether the plant is generating or not. Coupled with the capital cost of installing and servicing the solar panels, the overall cost of electric power has to rise.
Note that peak-shaving gas turbine powered generating plants, with their high fuelling costs, ironically have a lower impact on this cost structure.
If you argue that at least it will reduce greenhouse gasses... maybe. BUT THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON THE EFFECTS OF THIS ON GLOBAL WARMING.
Contrary to what the politicos and the MSM would have you believe, there is NO consensus among scientists as to the cause of global warming. A number of alternative theories are being formulated, however.
As one wag lamented: Lucky for global warming or we'd all be living on a glacier, at least in Canada.
H.F. Wolff
Contrary to what the politicos and the MSM would have you believe, there is NO consensus among scientists as to the cause of global warming. A number of alternative theories are being formulated, however."
Your first assertion contradicts your second. There is no consensus about the cause, but there is as to the fact the globe IS warming. 150 years of observed data and 20 million years of inferred data shows levels of atmosphereic carbon are at all time highs in that period.
Reducing your personal pollution footprint can't be considered a bad thing. Reducing your own dependence on the electrical grid can't be ethier.
---
The preceding comment deals with mature subject matter, however immaturely presented. Viewer discretion is advised.
Even on the topic as to whether the globe is warming or not, there is controversy.
The proposition is that the planet has warmed by about 2 degrees Celsius over the last 150 years.
The argument against this proposition is that it is impossible to measure the planet's temperature with an accuracy that would support such a conclusion.
Knowing a little about taking physical measurements, and evaluating them, I must concur with the skepticism on global warming.
H.F. Wolff
The problem too is that small variations in CO2 in the atmosphere lead to large swings in temperature. A 3 degree average variance across the planet can lead to a 'runaway' situation (as tested experimenttally, and through computer models).
---
The preceding comment deals with mature subject matter, however immaturely presented. Viewer discretion is advised.
Carbon dioxide and pollution are two different things. To call CO2 a pollutant is no different than calling water (or water vapour)a pollutant. Without either substance life on earth is impossible.
Reduction of pollution is always a good thing and is a motherhood statement. 'We doan need no steeekingin politicos to tel us this'.
Reducing your dependence on the electrical system ought to be an economic decision, perhaps with a modicum of personal prejudice. Myself I am interested in CHP power, ie. Combined Heat & Power, a domestic electric generator producing power, with the waste heat used for hot water and dwelling heat.
This is my personal interest... But what would be the impact on the environment if every second homeowner operated a CHP out-of-tune and spewing smoke and carbon MONOXIDE (deadly poison) into the neighbourhood? Hence my caution on the cost of electric power if many people do a certain thing. It's called the 'blow-back' effect: an undesirable consequence often not identified during the original assessment of the action.
H.F. Wolff