And the Efficiency of Solar Panels is at least 6 times as great as 20 Years ago. Maybe 10x soon.
Ooops!
Yes. That's true. I've heard that wonderful things are about to come out of the Federal Putting Wings On Pigs Office, next week.
Just remember, when next Monday rolls around, next week will be only seven days away.
So make that Rhode Island.
Which completely ignores the fact that the energy needs of the United States, at today's levels, never mind next week's levels, can't be transported across the nation on wires.
Can't be done.
No amount of manana is going to change that.
Has something to do with melting wires and how melted wires don't conduct electricity when they're on the ground.
Just think if it was only used in the West/Southwest we only need ¼ the area of Rhode Island.
Why be such a gremlin and bring up "portland Maine".. Why not go for the likely and doable.
Because the con-men are promoting the stupid "all the US" scam in ads I've seen on TV, and too many totally ignorant people are swayed by the magic box in their living room.
I mean, there's a reason this discussion is happening, right? You believe it's possible, against the facts of reality, to provide 100% if the US power needs with the shiny smiley guy in the sky, don't you?
Well, Helios isn't up to the task. Gaian realities dictate otherwise.
Thinking like yours is what stops innovation.
No, it doesn't.
Knowlege of what's impossible is what enables engineers to focus on the possible. There's a reason I don't build concrete airplanes with rubberband propellers, and use good old-fashioned graphite composites to carry wing loadings induced by titanium bladed turbofans on the airplanes I work on.
Want to power up the nation without burning chemicals?
Then you have to burn uranium, thorium, and plutonium, instead, until such time as it becomes possible to burn hydrogen and helium and lithium in fusion chambers.
Now We're talking very feasible and probably spread out so as not to be all in one spot. (So many places in Cal, Ariz, Nev, NM, etc)
No, overshading the western desert with solar collectors comprising an area similar to the state of Taxachusetts is not feasible. Doesn't matter how "spread out" it is, it's going be an unnatural shading of a tremendous area.
And what will Oil/NG/etc cost in 10 years do you think Genius?
Depends on any number of factors.
Will the Messiah's ignorant ban on off-shore drilling be lifted? Will the nation be able to access it's coal and oil and shale deposits as needed, or will treasonous politics in Washington still keep us bent over the "barrel" for socialist and terrorst nations? And how many gigawatts will brand new nuclear reactors be providing the nation's electric grids in a decade? How many foundations for new reactors will be laid by then?
As 2.3 Billion 'Chindians', etc, become more like the .3 Billion Americans in their energy consumption?
You need some basic imagination.. no.. even just forethought of this certainty.
I guess the US should start tapping it's native reserves for it's own use and letting the rest of the world compete for the socialist and terrorist oil instead.
It would only be conservative and good planning to put at least a much large slice in solar, for just one.
When the engineering can't possibly produce the energy needed?
Why waste the money when we could be mining uranium today?
You show the shallowest of cost analysis and one that will surely change... and probably has already. With interest rates as low as they are now, "more expensive" (and basically up-front-only) plants can be built and amortized at a much lesser cost. Especially if government or govt gauranteed/tax free financing is given as it is for many Municipal projects. In 20 years they could [still] be producing near Free energy when oil is $400 a barrel.
Oil isn't going to reach $400 a barrel until the Messiah runs the printing presses and devalues the currency.
But, because we shouldn't allow ourselves to become enthralled to socialist and terrorist nations, we should do everything we can to make sure that we take advantage of every useful energy resource this nation offers.
Tha means coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and in a limited fashion, solar, tidal, wave, and wind as fringe components of proportionately small worth.