[ale] Intelligent Power (was global warming) [OT]

[Greg Freemyer]

On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 9:06 AM, Jim Lynch <ale_nospam at fayettedigital.com> wrote:
> Jim Popovitch wrote:
>  > On Sun, Mar 2, 2008 at 11:02 PM, George Allen <glallen01 at gmail.com> wrote:
>  >
>  >>  Say - layout a grid-array of solar panels over say... most of Nevada...
>  >>
>  >
>  > Who's land?  :-)
>  >
>  > That is one of the big stumbling blocks.
>  >
>  > I was down at a south-of-Georgia power company last week (a power
>  > company that invests heavily in fossil fuel, wind, solar, nuclear and
>  > wave research, and I had a unusual chance to discuss solar technology
>  > with some of their engineers.  The key take away was that todays solar
>  > panel technology just isn't good enough.  In order for solar power to
>  > be a commercially viable business there needs to be greater cell
>  > density (watt per square inch).   I forget the exact numbers stated,
>  > but it was the equivalent of needing a 1 foot square panel to produce
>  > what a football sized series of panels produce today.
>  >
>  > -Jim P.
>  > _
>  That's not what I've read.  Today's voltaic solar panels are running
>  about $3 - $4.50 per watt.  To compete with more conventional power
>  generation methods that number has to come down to $1 per watt.  That's
>  about what it costs for a fossil fueled plant.  There are people that
>  say some recent developments may get us there.  Besides when oil hits
>  $400 a barrel, the conventional power generation methods will cost more
>  than $1 per watt.  There are other solar power methods that show great
>  promise and are actually being implemented.  Unfortunately due to
>  economy of scale, they aren't economical for a single family dwelling to
>  install.  Remember Jimmy Carter was pushing solar and even installed
>  solar hot water heaters for the whitehouse?  Someone took it down to
>  repair a leaky roof and it never got put back up.
>
>  Jim.

Per: http://discovermagazine.com/2006/apr/anything-oil

In the long term, they can make Electrical generating quality crude
oil for about $75 / barrel from biowaste. (iirc).

I have not followed the above oil production plant beyond reading that
article, but it is describing an actual plant in full production and
selling oil to the local electric company to generate electricity, not
some totally pie-in-the-sky project that may be possible with a couple
$B in investment.

The article I sited above is 2 years old.  If anyone has seen a more
recent article, I would love to read it.

Greg
-- 
Greg Freemyer
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http://www.linkedin.com/in/gregfreemyer
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