NewsTrust - Solar Energy - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Here Comes The Sun

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Nov. 06 (Opinion) - We are, or at least we should be, on the cusp of an energy transformation, driven by the rapidly falling cost of solar power. That’s right, solar power. If that surprises you, if you still think of solar power as some kind of hippie fantasy, blame our fossilized political system, in which fossil fuel producers have both powerful political allies and a powerful propaganda machine that denigrates alternatives.

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Government Fees Could Be Hindering the Rollout of American Solar Power

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Popular Science - By Clay Dillow - Jun. 18 (Opinion) - Given the way the government is beating up on a certain foreign oil company this morning, it's easy to think perhaps this is the impetus America needs to align government, industry, and popular sentiment toward developing home-grown renewable energy sources. But a look at the charges the Bureau of Land Management levies against solar power projects on public lands tells a different tale. In fact, it seems the more efficient your power plant, the more the BLM wants you to pony up. The government justifiably charges private businesses rent if they want to operate solar or wind arrays on public lands. But on top of that there is a compicated fee structure -- the "megawatt capacity fee" -- that drives the total rent as high as twice the market value for comparable private land. The BLM -- again, justifiably -- says its just trying to get taxpayers something back for private enterprise that benefits from the land they own. But the way the fees are structured is somewhat suspect.

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Europe Energized

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Steven Hill - Jun. 08 (Opinion) - The average European today emits half the carbon of an average American and uses far less electricity. It takes 40 percent more fuel for an American car to drive a mile than a European car. Europe overall has managed to reduce its ecological footprint to half that of the United States for the same standard of living. How has Europe managed this? Through smart, strategic government policy, working closely with the private sector, to advance incentives and regulations that encourage the necessary behavior from consumers, households and businesses. While the U.S. has resorted to ill-fated strategies to secure more oil — including recent calls for more offshore drilling — the European landscape has been slowly transformed. Picture windmills, tidal turbines and solar panels on rooftops dotting the European landscape, and vast solar arrays with tens of thousands of panels that have tracking technology to follow the sun.

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Absolute power?

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Maclean's - By Chris Sorensen - Jun. 07 (Opinion) - The province has so far approved thousands of green energy contracts, ranging in size from a few solar panels on the roof of a family home to industrial-scale projects, in which they agree to pay several times the going electricity rate for periods of up to 40 years. It has also signed a controversial $7-billion deal with a consortium led by South Korean giant Samsung that includes a massive investment in wind and solar electricity. The hope is that all the spending will seed a new green energy industry in Ontario (all projects must source a percentage of materials locally), creating some 50,000 new jobs in the process. But so far, the rush to a so-called green economy seems fraught with risk. While the thought of powering homes and businesses with power harnessed from the sun and wind is appealing, it’s currently far more expensive and less reliable than conventional sources, which means consumers and taxpayers will be the ones left on the hook—for decades—if the experiment doesn’t work out.

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Two Game Changers In Clean Tech

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Forbes - By Hilary Kramer - Jun. 02 (Opinion) - Perhaps the largest threat facing our world today is a looming energy crisis. Along with food, water and shelter, energy has become the fourth necessity for human existence. As we all know, oil is king. However, the way I see it, there really is only one certainty: Oil is not going to solve our long-term energy problems. In fact, our continued use of oil will only serve to worsen the environmental, political and national security issues that come with its use. In response to these issues, the door has opened for a host of alternative energy sources, and that means opportunity for investors in stocks like Applied Materials ( AMAT - news - people ) and Westport Innovations ( WPRT - news - people ).

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Global warming monitoring needs to find 'missing heat', say scientists

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By David Adam - Apr. 15 - Further study on oceans needed before hidden heat ?comes back to haunt us?, say researchers in Colorado Experts need to beef up ways to measure the heat content of oceans as a way to track more reliably the course of global warming, scientists say today. Kevin Trenberth and John Fasullo, climate scientists at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, say that only about half of the heat believed to have built up in the Earth in recent years can be accounted for. New instruments are needed to locate and monitor this missing heat, they say, which could be storing up trouble for the future. "The heat will come back to haunt us sooner or later," Trenberth said. "The reprieve we?ve had from warming temperatures in the ...

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Who’s Sleeping Now?

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Thomas L. Friedman - Jan. 10 (Opinion) - China was asleep during the Industrial Revolution. She was just waking during the Information Technology Revolution. She intends to participate fully in the Green Revolution.”

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