Tag Archives: Economy

Sun and wind are winning over fracked methane shale gas –Goldman Sachs

Solar PV, onshore wind, electric vehicles, and LED lighting will win for all of us and profit in the next five years, says Goldman Sachs, which just put $150 billion of its own money where its mouth is.
How about you, world leaders gathered in Paris?

Chris Martin, BloombergBusiness, 30 November 2015,

Wind, Solar Power to Supply More Energy Than Shale, Goldman Says,

New wind turbines and solar panels worldwide will provide more
energy over the next five years than U.S. shale-oil production has
over the past five, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.


Four Front Runners

The leading renewable-energy technologies will add the equivalent of
6.2 million barrels of oil a day to the global energy mix, exceeding
the 5.7 million barrels a day pumped from U.S. shale oil wells since
2010, analysts including Brian Lee and Jaakko Kooroshy said in a
research report Monday….

“Wind and solar are on track to exceed 100 gigawatts in new
installations for the first time,” Continue reading →

Southern Company buys 157MW Roserock Solar Farm in Texas

That’s great, but how about more of those hundreds of construction jobs
and operation money right back here to Georgia?
But since you’re buying solar power,
why do you need

to buy a pipeline company?
How about

helping us against Sabal Trail invading us from Texas
through Southern Company territory?

Southern Company PR, 30 November 2015,

Southern Company subsidiary acquires first solar project in Texas,


Continue reading →

Pipeline in Floridan Aquifer is total insanity –Marcellus Shale drilling veteran @ FERC Lake City 2015-10-01



“If you go through with this, you stand a very good chance
of destroying this [the Floridan Aquifer] the rest of our lifetimes.
And in many lifetimes to come.”
Said Marcellus shale drilling veteran Rocky Stewart

to FERC in Lake City, Florida, October 1st 2015.
Transcript and video:

I am a homeowner in Suwannee County,
by Boys Ranch,
I currently do not live there, I live in Corpus Christi [Texas].
I’m sure some people here regard me as the enemy,
but I am in total opposition to what you all have planned.

By profession, I’m what’s known as Continue reading →

Solar prices will drop much further below fossil fuels

High-placed utility executives have told me solar panels can’t get any cheaper.
Here’s why economies of scale will continue to drive solar prices down,
just like for Henry Ford’s Model T.
There’s no excuse for new pipelines or nukes.
Let the sun rise!

tl;dr: If current rates of improvement hold, solar will be
incredibly cheap by the time it’s a substantial fraction of the
world’s electricity supply.


Ramez Naam, on his blog, 10 August 2015,

What’s the future price of solar?, Continue reading →

Solar power prices dropping faster than Moore’s Law

More confirmation that solar power is winning so there’s no excuse for any new pipelines.

tl;dr: Moore’s Law is an analogy. As an analogy, it works. And
progress is happening far faster than I projected in my ‘solar
Moore’s Law’ piece of 2011.]


Ramez Naam, on his blog, April 2015,

Is Moore’s Law Really a Fair Comparison for Solar? Continue reading →

Brief agenda at unusual time and day @ VLCIA 2015-09-08



The only named existing industry project is
Smith Drug, which
according to the VDT,
showed up here in 2009.

Tuesday 8 Sep 2015 at 10AM (no reason given for the odd date and time),
the Development Authority is preparing for the Chamber Economic Summit 2015-010-08
and various other events, plus the usual reports.
Here’s the

agenda.

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority

Tuesday, September 8, 2015 11:00 a.m.

Development Authority Conference Room/103 Roosevelt Drive

Monthly Meeting Agenda

Continue reading →

Let’s stop Sabal Trail before it makes any more mistakes

Thanks to Julie Bowland for the picture of my VDT op-ed today. -jsq


jsq op-ed in VDT
The same day the Sabal Trail was quoted in the VDT August 5th as
saying it had done enough subsurface analysis on our fragile karst
limestone topography, a sinkhole opened up next to Shiloh Road.
Sabal Trail already had to move its Albany compressor station
because arrowheads had been found there. The pipeline itself is a
much bigger mistake: let’s stop it before it damages our property
values, forests, rivers, or our people.

Spectra Energy’s paid staff are continue to assert that Sabal
Trail’s proposed gouge through our fields, farms, and under our
rivers will proceed according their plan to profit executives and
investors in Houston, Texas.

Actually, Continue reading →

Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Water Council @ SSRWPC 2015-07-20



Fascinating stuff here, especially from Liz Booth and Jim Kennedy.
They meet again

today at Aniston’s Restaurant, 1404 W. Baker Highway, Douglas, GA.

You’ll probably notice there were some glitches with these July videos;
thanks to Gretchen for salvaging most of them.
And there’s no video of WWALS board member Al Browning speaking about
water quality, nor of my presentation of the WWALS letter to SSRWPC:

Please join the opposition to the Sabal Trail watershed invader —WWALS to SSRWPC.

Videos: Transportation and electrical presentations plus officer elections @ VLCIA 2015-07-21



They meet again tonight; here are videos from last month, when

Electrical Test Labs of Georgia was recognized, and claimed dibs on some land.


The Development Authority re-elected its same officers, after extending the term of the Chairman to two years.


SGRC’s Corey Hull presented very briefly about the 2040 Transporation Plan,
and asked for questions.
The Development Authority had none.

Lots of dials showing Continue reading →

World Trade Center Savannah and Gold Honey Bean @ VLCIA 2015-08-18

The Development Authority begins tonight with a
presentation
by



Leigh Ryan, Director of Trade Services and Foreign Trade Zone 104,

World Trade Center Savannah.
According to WTC Savannah,

A foreign trade zone is a federally approved location within the
United States, which is considered outside of US Customs territory
where domestic and foreign merchandise may be placed without formal
customs entry and without payment of duties and taxes. Subzones are
special-purpose facilities for companies unable to operate
effectively at public zone sites. Foreign trade zones are usually
located in or near Customs ports of entry, at industrial parks or
terminal warehouse facilities. Their purpose is to attract and
promote international trade and commerce.

WTC has more on that page, but never actually says where FTZ 104 is.

Mary Carr Mayle, SavannaNow, 31 May 2015,

World Trade Center Savannah expands FTZ 104, Continue reading →