Looks like solar power is making some big strides lately, even without any government incentives. “By 2014, solar-system prices will be competitive with conventional electricity when energy savings are figured in,” says Deutsche Bank. Solar power is a good complementary source where peak mid-day consumption puts stress on the electricity grid.

Your Next Roof

Costa Rica is mostly hydroelectric with some fuel-fired plants and a little wind power. Hydro depends on reservoirs and rainfall, which works great most of the year, but in the months of January to April there is very little rainfall and the reservoirs get drained, which caused rolling blackouts just last April. Of course the dry season has the perfect conditions for solar power, so once the prices are low enough this could be an intriguing energy supplement for businesses and even long-term savings for homes.

Prices have fallen more than 90% since Reagan took the solar panels off the White House, and the industry is expected to grow to $40 billion. But no matter how big solar power gets, it will never be a core source of energy, because it cannot generate a constant, 24-hour source of energy, and our energy storage methods aren’t developed enough.

The main core sources of power generation are hydroelectric, coal, oil, and nuclear, the last being the cleanest and best for the environment, even if you consider “nuclear waste” which by the way still has a ton of energy, and can be re-processed for further use in a breeder reactor. More than 75% of France’s electricity needs are covered by nuclear plants, and breeder reactors powered by nuclear waste operate in France and Russia and is soon coming to other countries like Japan who have the technology and the pressing, current need to be energy independent.

In light of all the recent reported deaths in coal mines (China reaching a dizzying 7000 deaths per year), not to mention all the environmental damage, allow me to remind you of the total number of deaths in the U.S. from nuclear power:

Zero

Jeff :: Aug.28.2007 :: News 'n' Commentary :: No Comments »