Posted on 02/14/2014 8:11:25 AM PST by lbryce
The Ivanpah solar power plant stretches over more than five square miles of the Mojave Desert. Almost 350,000 mirrors the size of garage doors tilt toward the sun with an ability to energize 140,000 homes. The plant, which took almost four years and thousands of workers assembling millions of parts to complete, officially opened on Thursday, the first electric generator of its kind.
It could also be the last.
Since the project began, the price of rival technologies has plummeted, incentives have begun to disappear and the appetite among investors for mammoth solar farms has waned. Although several large, new projects have been coming online in recent months — many in the last quarter of 2013 — experts say fewer are beginning construction and not all of those under development will be completed.
“I don’t think that we’re going to see large-scale solar thermal plants popping up, five at a time, every year in the U.S. in the long-term — it’s just not the way it’s going to work,” said Matthew Feinstein, a senior analyst at Lux Research.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Only two trillion? That’s easy. We’re something close to 18 $ trillion in debt now. What’s a couple $ trillion more?
That’s a good point. Solar power, going green, was the cornerstone of Democrat issue viability, credibility. If solar power doesn’t ‘light up their life’ what does it say about some of their more hare-brained political concoctions?
Good point. Let’s talk about what liberals have ever been right about.
Take the whole war on poverty and the various programs which came out of that effort. Have those programs taken people out of poverty?
Do we have better more reliable sources of energy, and better energy policies, since we’ve had a Department of Energy?
Is the state of public education improved since Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education?
Are liberals ever held to account for their policies and programs? Or do we just ignore apparent failures of liberal programs, because, well just because we want to cut liberals a break??? And go back to bashing conservatives as racist, sexist, homophobic, etc?????
I toured such a facility near Barstow back about 1988 or so. Lots of mirrors.
The purpose is to allow those with political connections to have access to taxpayer money. There are well connected people who will profit even though the project makes no economic sense.
It was true in the 70s, it was true in the 90s, its true now and it will be true 20 years from now: the ONLY way you make money in a solar deal is through state subsidies and tax credits, period.
If you go to Google Maps, and look for:
“Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating”
Your jaw will drop. This is insane.
We use these folks for our electric here in a small rv park. Rates are .31 per kw. Last months electric bill for our 36 ft motor coach was $ 622. Somebody is making a couple bucks. You can see the towers from our place 11 miles away
Isn't it amazing how the environmentalist don't worry about solar mirrors frying birds or wind turbines chopping them up. But if its a pipeline or chopping down trees the protestors are out screaming "their habitat is being threatened".
More targets for terrorists.
Lots of minimum wage jobs dusting all those mirrors off, eh?
California Dusters for Dough!!
Yet more proof of two things: LIBs are insane and LIBs are criminals.
OMG! Don't ruin burgers, too!
The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is being shut down at the end of the year because it is claimed it can't make money to cover its cost of operation. It is a rather small unit (less than 600 MW installed capacity) as nuclear plants go, has a 90+% capacity factor. It is a perfectly functional facility. But it is sobering to think that even this somewhat small-scale nuclear plant generated, last year, a total amount of energy that was more than every solar panel and windmill in the states of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine combined.
Which was not shutdown by extremists more concerned with the dead birds and disruption to desert lizards and other local wildlife.
Hey, you’re quite good at figurin’ all that stuff out. You do that all by yourself?
I have said it before and I will say it again. The greatest danger to the Economy and Security of the United States is the Environmental Lobby and the politicians they buy.
Not joking. Liberals are just not the smartest of the bunch. And, they need someone else's help (government) to organize their daily lives and make tough decisions on their behalf. Emotionally gullible as well. Just not the sharpest bunch.
Are there night courses available?
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