Parking lot sunshades

[Galaxy]

What will you do when the Africans hold the power plants to ransom? It really is better no to rely on Third World countries for anything important. We've learned that the hard way with getting oil out of the Middle East. Do you really want North African Islamists having control of your electricity supply?

Yes that is one problems with Desertec.

[GoCougs]

The only "renewable" source that is viable is hydro. Its energy is dense and its capture relatively cheap. There have been plants in operation for decades using all the original equipment, including the turbines.

[Galaxy]

My assertion is that it doesn't work it's that without the government pulling significant strings it'll never come into being on a grand scale. In other words, it is a viable replacement but not a viable substitute.

Solar is destined to go the way of wind power and ethanol; when the government bails on it (as it has in the US, especially ethanol), the market will bail on it as well.

For the time being it will need to be subsidized, but nuclear power gets as well so...

I think that in a few years the technology will be cost effective. The advancements in bringing down the production costs have been huge.


Apropos state subsidies: Your?re not going to like it but in effect American tax $ are subsidizing German solar cells. The Kreditanstalt f?r Wiederaufbau (Credit Institute for Reconstruction) is responsiblre for handing out low interest credit lines for home owners who install solar cells, make their homes more energy efficient those sort of things. As the name implies the KfW was formed after WWII as a state bank to help bombed out home owners and businesses. Like a lot of government organisations this bank showed surprising resilience to stay alive even after it served it?s purpose. Although the KfW did get back to it`s core mission after reunification to rebuild former East Germany. Anyways this KfW bank was responsible for handing out some of the Marshall plan money. However they did not just hand out money they got interest and later on they invested Marshall money.  Most of the ?376 billion that the bank today manages originated with the Marshall Plan.

[Galaxy]

The only "renewable" source that is viable is hydro. Its energy is dense and its capture relatively cheap. There have been plants in operation for decades using all the original equipment, including the turbines.

Hydro plants flood such large areas that they can only be implemented by heavy use of eminent domain.

[ChrisV]

Hydro plants flood such large areas that they can only be implemented by heavy use of eminent domain.

And who built them? Government.

And the groundworks on a number of the larger ones are aging poorly.