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Direct
Current, Too Studies by The
AC system is also simply out of capacity, leading to noted shortages in California and other regions; DC lines are cheaper
to build and require less land area than equivalent AC lines. About 500 miles of HVDC lines operate in the Stage
One: Present to 2020 About
84 GW of photovoltaics and concentrated solar power plants would be built by 2020. In parallel, the DC transmission system
would be laid. It would expand via existing rights-of-way along interstate highway corridors, minimizing land-acquisition
and regulatory hurdles. This backbone would reach major markets in Building
1.5 GW of photovoltaics and 1.5 GW of concentrated solar power annually in the first five years would stimulate many manufacturers
to scale up. In the next five years, annual construction would rise to 5 GW apiece, helping firms optimize production lines.
As a result, solar electricity would fall toward six cents per kWh. This implementation schedule is realistic; more than 5
GW of nuclear power plants were built in the Stage
Two: 2020 to 2050 The
huge reduction in imported oil would lower trade balance payments by $300 billion a year, assuming a crude oil price
of $60 a barrel (average prices were higher in 2007). Once solar power plants are installed, they must
be maintained and repaired, but the price of sunlight is forever free, duplicating those fuel savings year after year. Moreover,
the solar investment would enhance national energy security, reduce financial burdens on the military, and greatly decrease
the societal costs of pollution and global warming, from human health problems to the ruining of coastlines and farmlands. Ironically,
the solar grand plan would lower energy consumption. Even with 1 percent annual growth in demand, the 100 quadrillion
Btu consumed in 2006 would fall to 93 quadrillion Btu by 2050. This unusual offset arises because a good deal of energy is consumed to extract and process fossil fuels, and more
is wasted in burning them and controlling their emissions. To
meet the 2050 projection, 46,000 square miles of land would be needed for photovoltaic and concentrated solar power installations.
That area is large, and yet it covers just 19 percent of the suitable Southwest land. Most of that land is barren; there is
no competing use value. And the land will not be polluted. We have assumed that only 10 percent of the solar capacity in 2050
will come from distributed photovoltaic installations—those on rooftops or commercial lots throughout the country. But
as prices drop, these applications could play a bigger role. 2050
and Beyond To
be conservative, again, we estimated how much solar plant capacity would be needed under the historical worst-case solar radiation
conditions for the Southwest, which occurred during the winter of 1982–1983 and in 1992 and 1993 following the Under
these assumptions, In
2100 this renewable portfolio could generate 100 percent of all Who
Pays? Congress
could establish the financial incentives by adopting a national renewable energy plan. Consider the U.S. Farm Price Support
program, which has been justified in terms of national security. A solar price support program would secure the nation’s
energy future, vital to the country’s long-term health. Subsidies would be gradually deployed from 2011 to 2020. With
a standard 30-year payoff interval, the subsidies would end from 2041 to 2050. The HVDC transmission companies would not have
to be subsidized, because they would finance construction of lines and converter stations just as they now finance AC lines,
earning revenues by delivering electricity. Although
$420 billion is substantial, the annual expense would be less than the current U.S. Farm Price Support program. It is also less than the tax subsidies that have been levied to build the country’s high-speed telecommunications
infrastructure over the past 35 years. And it frees the Without
subsidies, the solar grand plan is impossible. Other countries have reached similar conclusions: Critics
have raised other concerns, such as whether material constraints could stifle large-scale installation. With rapid deployment,
temporary shortages are possible. But several types of cells exist that use different material combinations. Better processing
and recycling are also reducing the amount of materials that cells require. And in the long term, old solar cells can largely
be recycled into new solar cells, changing our energy supply picture from depletable fuels to recyclable materials. The
greatest obstacle to implementing a renewable What makes long-term
sense, doesn’t for those who are part of the WTO’s vision of the future.
Like protecting the costal barrier on the Gulf has been proposed to prevent the devastation for over 2 decades, such
does not fall within the sphere of action of the neoliberals which dominate both directly and indirectly our political process. And while other good plans have been adopted abroad, such as local, small traditional
energy plants which supply the byproduct of heat to the community, and medical which has controlled the costs of medical treatment
including prescription drugs, our nation clings to its neoliberal policies. For the most complete analysis of the war and the role of neoconservatism and oil BEST DEMOCRACRY OIL CARTEL CAN BUY--and a tax break for buying an SUV.
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