re: #72 Nekama

The great thing about solar is that it produces power at the point where it is consumed. There is little need to upgrade the grid - an enormous investment - unlike wind power which is generally produced in remote areas and requires a new grid just to get to the grid.

Solar, and the new generation of nukes (that reprocesses spent fuel) such as what France uses to generate the majority of their electricity, are our country’s future and the free world’s security from the Islamists.

Combine that with the Better Place electric vehicle model, and we can dramatically reduce our dependence on the oil ticks.

Solar photovoltaic has a steep cost differential going against it. It’s just not economical without subsidies, except in places where stringing a landline would be expensive too.

Solar thermal we know, right now, how to do. But a large scale installation won’t pay for itself unless it’s sited where the sun shines regularly. In a rational world, California would be first off the mark. But they seem destined to flinch from paving over a major piece of desert with collectors and then stringing wire to LA. Las Vegas would make sense too, but the city has been hammered financially. So I expect El Paso, TX will be the first US city with a big solar farm generating a good fraction of its electricity needs.