As Dr. George said Continue reading
Here’s a four page explanation of that table.
Coal is not the cheapest: natural gas is. Onshore wind actually costs about the same as coal, and less than nuclear. Offshore wind is currently about 2.5 times more expensive.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) currently costs a bit more than twice as much as coal, and already less than offshore wind.
The table does not take into account the environmental costs of the various power sources, or obviously coal would fare far worse, and biomass would not be rated anywhere near as good as wind.
Remember, the cost of solar is falling rapidly, so solar will rapidly become more cost-effective compared to other energy sources.
-jsq
MAGE SOLAR,
the German company which in September
opened its North American headquarters
in Dublin, Georgia,
will be giving a 30 minute presentation
at Lowndes High School next Tuesday, 29 March 2011
on
“the immense possibilities of solar power and its economic benefits for Georgia”Hey, here’s an idea:
Concluding the program will be a highly anticipated Q&A-session which will provide direct access to industry experts and company officials; refreshments will be served.Maybe with real answers, unlike an expensive dog and pony show with a hand-picked moderator going “we’re not going to get into debate.”
Kudos to MAGE SOLAR for locating in Georgia and then forging ahead into the sunshine of south Georgia! PDF and image of the flyer, and PDF and text of the detailed invitation, are available on LAKE’s website.
-jsq
PS: This post owed to Jerome Tucker.
They keep working.
Kelly Rigg in Huffpo writes Battle-proof Wind Farms Survive Japan’s Trial by Fire:
Colleagues and I have been directly corresponding with Yoshinori Ueda leader of the International Committee of the Japan Wind Power Association & Japan Wind Energy Association, and according to Ueda there has been no wind facility damage reported by any association members, from either the earthquake or the tsunami. Even the Kamisu semi-offshore wind farm, located about 300km from the epicenter of the quake, survived. Its anti-earthquake “battle proof design” came through with flying colors.The only wind farms not operational are stopped because of failure of the grid to feed electricity into, says Mr. Ueda:Mr. Ueda confirms that most Japanese wind turbines are fully operational. Indeed, he says that electric companies have asked wind farm owners to step up operations as much as possible in order to make up for shortages in the eastern part of the country:
Eurus Energy Japan says that 174.9MW with eight wind farms (64% of their total capacity with 11 wind farms in eastern part of Japan) are in operation now. The residual three wind farms (Kamaishi 42.9MW, Takinekoshirai 46MW, Satomi 10.02MW) are stopped due to the grid failure caused by the earthquake and Tsunami.So they wind farms built like that could most likely survive a hurricane in the Georgia Bight.
-jsq
The first thing I saw when I drove up to the Industrial Authority building:
protesters outside.
They don’t seem to like some biomass plant.
Let’s ask these two what this is about.
Dr. Michael Noll,
President of Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)
said:
“We’re here to protest against biomass. We wish Brad Lofton well in his new job, but we want biomass to go as well.”
I asked Leigh Touchton, President of Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP about a letter she forwarded to LAKE, and she said: Continue reading
Last Saturday I heard Hannah Solar had completed the Wiregrass Solar
plant installation in Valdosta.
Today
Col. Ricketts confirmed that.
Congratulations, Industrial Authority, Wiregrass Solar LLC,
and Hannah Solar!
The first slide shows the location of the solar plant,
which is
in the back of Valdosta’s Mud Creek Water Treatment Plant
on Water Plant Road off of GA 94 (New Statenville Highway).
Where there used to be just a bare field, it’s now covered with solar panels.
The current holdup is
waiting for Georgia Power to connect the panels
to the grid.
After that, they just need to schedule a commissioning ceremony.
Col. Ricketts said they’d discuss that “later”.
Here’s the video:
-jsq
What’s Brad Lofton’s legacy?
The VDT finally published something today about Brad Lofton moving to Myrtle Beach, apparently mostly drawing on the same SC newspaper story LAKE picked up on last Thursday, with some material from the second SunNews story of Friday. The VDT did add some local interviews: Continue reading
It’s like denying the earth goes around the sun. Why would they identify with such a silly thing? Because of what actually dealing with climate change would mean: Continue readingAnd the reason is that climate change is now seen as an identity issue on the right. People are defining themselves, like they’re against abortion, they don’t believe in climate change. It’s part of who they are.
Rich McKay wrote for the ajc,
Carbon limits a boon for traders:
Proposed emissions standards may galvanize business in Georgia.
The carbon-emitting companies pay the farmers to not cut down the trees or to plant new trees. The idea is that the trees, which gobble up carbon, will store up the carbon from the atmosphere and offset what the smokestacks spew.
Blake Sullivan, of the Macon-based Carbon Tree Bank, has 26,000 acres of forest in the state under contract for carbon banking.Why is this suddenly a business? Continue reading“Georgia has an abundance of forests right here, and trees are like the lungs of the Earth,” he said. “They inhale carbon and exhale oxygen. We can be part of the solution right here in our own backyard.”
After all the
protesters, police, and press,
representatives of
VLCIA,
Sterling Planet,
Hannah Solar,
Georgia Power,
and the
City of Valdosta
did finally break ground for
the Wiregrass Solar power plant.
I asked Col. Ricketts for a shovel, but he just snorted.
Here’s the
groundbreaking video: