what about Solar in the pickens plan ?

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Permalink Reply by Greg on July 8, 2008 at 9:51pm

For those who want to point out that money is made on these conversions...you are correct!
In Chinese, the word "crisis" is made up of two characters. The first signifies "risk." The second signifies "opportunity".
When Mother Theresa was ask to attend an anti-war rally, she declined. Her response was "if you want to stage a peace rally I will be there".
Everyone needs to focus positive energy on what they DO believe in and support it.
I for one support Mr. Pickens and a multi-layer solution including wind, solar, and Nat gas.
Nano-tech will be the solar solution and much sooner than anyone will believe.
Lay down some wire for connection points and spray on a clear solution with nano cells.
Until then, harness the wind. Use our cleanest natural resource "Nat Gas".

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Permalink Reply by jeffrey gordon on July 9, 2008 at 1:34am

hi stanley, right on, distributed solar is much more likely to be a major part of energy independence. first thing we need to do is extend the federal tax credit for residential solar investment for 30 years so folks can plan on the consumer and producer sides.

JeffreyGordon

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Permalink Reply by Paul on August 13, 2008 at 11:38am

Bingo! DG is the wave of the future; STS can accomplish it *without* subsidies.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Overturf on July 9, 2008 at 1:54am

Solar is, in fact, on the way, however not using Silica-based panels. These are just too expensive for now. Check it out: 850 MW power plant using a grid of stirling engines - simple, cheap, effective. You can get a 25kw engine now, enough to power your house, compact footprint: http://www.stirlingenergy.com, there's another 900 MW powerplant on the drawing board.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Overturf on July 9, 2008 at 2:05am

Also, read this - while wind is here and now, a solar/wind combination would keep us in power for the foreseeable future - there's enough solar power to spare to make hydrogen & run reverse osmosis water desalinization plants.
http://www.stirlingenergy.com/downloads/16-December-2007-Scientific...

We could then use some nukes for concentrated delivery on the east coast & in the north, e.g., pebble bed reactors with waste vitrification. Perfectly safe.

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Permalink Reply by stanley kul on July 9, 2008 at 7:00am

www.dsire.com incentives for all !

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Permalink Reply by stanley kul on July 9, 2008 at 7:01am

join the solar power group and lets start talking

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Permalink Reply by stanley kul on July 9, 2008 at 7:38am

anyone know the cost of wind versus solar

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Permalink Reply by John Ashman on July 9, 2008 at 7:44am

Because Pickens isn't invested in solar. Therefore, he doesn't care. He might have figured out that doing this will raise his stock prices dramatically, sell lots of books and more than pay for the ads he's running. Not that greed can't be a great motivator for good, incidental or not, but it would be nice to see more intellectual honesty. "Build more windmills" qualifies as a 'plan' now? Sheesh. I guess when you're this rich, anything you say sounds cool.

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Permalink Reply by Monica Cameron on July 9, 2008 at 8:10am

I think solar is another great alternative that needs to be incorporated into this plan. Barriers to solar are based on a lack of public education and incentives. There are new technologies on the market that make solar attractive, both environmentally and financially (see www.agt.com)

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Permalink Reply by Johnny Solar on July 9, 2008 at 8:12am

I love solar too, but wind is 24/7 winter and summer and a more constant power.

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Permalink Reply by John Ashman on July 9, 2008 at 8:30am

Consider this angle - Pickens is building a whole windmill ranch. But he needs power companies to tie in. Put out 'the call' and convince legislators to build the infrastructure for his windmills. Just being cynical, but I do believe there's way more than just the story of Darth Vader turning back into a self-sacrificing, loving father going on. Not that I'm against bad people doing good, just think the fact that he thinks HIS solar and HIS gas are the solutions, rather than everything else is a bit suspicious. Put this much money into algae farming and we might get somewhere.

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