Citizen G'kar: Musings on Earth

March 19, 2005

Renewable Energy

The most compelling political issue being ignored by the Bush Administration is need to develop alternative renewable energy sources. The price of oil promises only to increase. Maintaining an oil supply has led the US into a war that has if anything made the politics of oil even more unstable. Today I found a website dedicated to alternative energy and found this article.
At least some Republicans are smart enough to see the write enough on the wall.
Alternative Energy Blog - Alternate-Energy.org: Alternative Energy California: A Million Solar Power Homes?
Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has a new plan to make California a world leader in solar energy.[...]The goal is to have 3,000 megawatts worth of solar power by 2018, which amounts to about 5 percent of the state's entire electricity usage at peak periods – generally hot summer afternoons when electricity is most in demand, most expensive, and when solar panels are most efficient. That's the equivalent of 40 new, $30 million, 75-megawatt natural gas plants. One megawatt is enough to power about 750 homes. "We will be building literally power plants' worth of solar on roofs across the state," said Del Chiaro.

The goal is to create a large, stable solar market that will lower the cost not only of components but also of installation to the point that incentives will no longer be necessary to make solar energy affordable.

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