Posted on 01/22/2017 3:27:09 PM PST by Olog-hai
President Donald Trump has disputed climate change, pledged a revival of coal and disparaged wind power, and his nominee to head the Energy Department was once highly skeptical of the agency’s value. What this means for states’ efforts to promote renewable energy is an open question.
States that are pushing for greater reliance on wind and solar power are not quite sure what to expect as Trump takes over. Many of them depend heavily on federal renewable-energy tax credits, grants and research, much of which comes from the Energy Department.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Trump’s pick to lead the department, presents a contradictory figure: A Texas oil promoter, he also oversaw a huge expansion of wind-energy production while governor. When he ran for president in 2011, he included Energy on a list of departments he thought should be abolished, though he disavowed the idea Thursday at his Senate confirmation hearing.
“We don’t know what version of Perry is going to show up,” said Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, Austin. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Libtards want us to go back to the days of the caveman, worshipping the wind and the sun.
.
>> “Is shoveling up the dead birds a green job?” <<
it is according to ‘bigbob.’
Not true! Billions of public and private investment have been thrown at these energy sources. Wind turbines are much more efficient; solar cells have dramatically reduced cost and gained huge efficiency.
Problem is that fossil fuel plants need to keep running at the same time as backup power all day and night. Very little solar/wind energy is actually used!
Lousy investment.
I expect both Elon Musk companies, Tesla and SolarCity to have problems going forward. If the “green” energy rebates go away, much of the advantage for those products goes with it.
I was wrong :)
BUT if it’s become so cheap, why can’t it replace fossil fuel in some areas and why would fossil fuel have to run 24/7 if alternate energy could keep a whole town running?
He’s meeting with the Canadians and that should take care of the pipeline deal for the time being.
Corn.....I like corn....don’t like paying $6 a dozen.
“Exactly. If wind and solar could benefit the country, they would be in the forefront. If anyone could invent a solar cell that was more efficient, they would be powering everything.”
Both wind and solar have a purpose, but neither is useful in the day to day production of energy on a large scale for homes and businesses.
I see solar and wind useful in something like a desalination facility. Make it self contained where it can produce fresh water and pump it inland before traditional energy methods are used for the remainder of the trip. If you can do that, you can build these along the coastlines of most countries.
Gee, who would have thought that by doing something as simple as this we can pull the world out of poverty for a few billion dollars?
WYOMING IS BASICALLY TRYING TO OUTLAW CLEAN ENERGY
In my travels in the west, I find people,who actually LIVE there absolutely hate the encroachment of the 400 foot windmill towers and the nonstop THRUMP, THRUMP, THRUMP they make as well as the nonstop blinking shadows. I suspect this introduced law, at root, is trying to remedy that problem. People have been totally frustrated for two decades to stop these monstrosities because of federal laws that gave the states renewable targets to meet. People are madder than hell that the Feds Exempted themselves from laws against noise pollution, visual pollution, light pollution and massive bird deaths. It's a perfect case of Washington knowing precisely how the rest of the country should live.
These environmental costs have been completely swept under the rug. More power to Wyoming to stop this madness.
solyndra? as an example....
is representative of the industry. it was NOT viable , even when the price of oil was over a hundred bucks a barrel.
now some are projecting real cheap oil.....lol
so much for bullshit fantasy nObama’s green dream,
so much for his support for his brethren at America’s expense.
As I pointed out, it is “ending”. Just not “now”. If you wish to change that, you’d have my vote but I’m not in Congress, and the Republican-controlled Congress is the one that made it the way it is. We will see if Trump’s agenda includes re-negotiating the timetable for ending the PTC and ITC, but the numbers I gave are 100% accurate as things stand today.
If we can move past the personal opinions, the underlying story is that the Republican Congress did this extension to please the energy lobbyists, as is usually the case in all legislation, but in return they ended the ban on crude oil exports. That was a good thing. It is also how deals are done, and I fully expect Trump to prioritize what he wants to get done and to negotiate compromises in the process. Those who expect everything to “stop, now” are going to have plenty to fuss about.
Yes and no.
Done the way the solar has been with government subsidies, it is insane.
Pumping electricity into the grid at mostly off peak times, little if any when it's really needed.
Utilities still have to maintain expensive peaking stations for morning and evening peak usage.
Solar hot water heating can cut home energy usage considerably.
About 20 years ago I bought 2 used 4X8 Grumman collectors and installed them myself.
They paid off by the end of the summer.
2 years ago I relocated them and made the tilt adjustable for winter use.
Turned it into a propylene glycol loop with a flat plate heat exchanger to move the heat to the hot water storage tank.
Now we get 75% or more of our hot water from the sun in the winter, and 100% in the summer, plus on clear days some house heating from it.
Next will add some evacuated tube collectors that work on cloudy days and add more storage to heat the house partially with solar, the rest a System 2000.
If you buy your stuff new and pay someone else to install it, it will take a few years to pay off, depending on what you bought, who installed it, your present energy costs, etc.
Electric solar is getting close to cost effective if you do it yourself.
I am part way there and plan one being able to go off grid in about 5 years.
The big expense now is the batteries.
Nothing I have done or will do qualifies for government subsidies, which I think are a crock of crap anyway the way they have been done with wind and solar.
The way they do it now doesn't make electrical, environmental or economic sense.
It would make sense to subsidize if you really were making a difference energy wise to prevent us from importing oil from Muslim countries.
For the time being with technology what it is, solar water heating is the only way that works economically.
The problem there is you need a homeowner or business owner who is capable of maintaining that system, which these days, few are.
Solar electric with your own battery storage, especially if you have an electric car can make sense. I prefer it just because I like being independent as much as possible.
In the next few years you are going to see more and more wind turbines idle or burned up when the 5 year maintenance contracts run out.
Then the boondoggle will be even more obvious.
“Make it pay or go away.”
Very good. Methinks you have a future in the bumper sticker industry. :)
Not sure why.
Only know that it takes hours/days to get boilers up to steam pressure to take over as the wind dies, or clouds cover the sun.
I guess it works for your home, as you’re always plugged in for backup, or an expensive battery pack can provide for your own needs. But the battery backup doesn’t scale up.
The maintenance costs for windmills are WAAAYYY underestimated in the models.
And, IIRC, 100% tax-deductions only have value if there is taxable income somewhere to be absorb them.
I would say it’s the laws of physics, combined with basic economic infeasibility, that creates uncertainty for wind and solar.
Good. Much of the taxpayer money “disappeared” into the pockets of LIB idiots. Where are the forensic accountants?
Thanks for the info. If private industry wants to go for it, that’s great.
Just not govt funds. Solyndra or whatever it was called, was enough.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.