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Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

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Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#51

Post by levemi »

drjesusphd wrote: post #37
levemi wrote: post #23

Whatever the realities of the cost of solar, I tend to worry about a future in which we cover vast swaths of areas with solar panels and the impact such a thing will have on the environment. I don't know if anyone has done good studies on it. A bunch other sustainable forms of energy have environmental problems. Wind generators cause harm to birds, geothermal electricity sources like in Hawai'i raise the temperature…

Those problems you cited all pale in comparison to global warming. It's a disingenuous comparison.

These problems pale in comparison partly because these sustainable forms of technology aren't being used any meaningful scale yet.

How much area do we have to cover with solar panels to power a largish metropolitan area?

Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#52

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

rathish_g wrote: post #26
shard972 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering that India is making progress on nuclear, it would seem inevitable that they shut down a few if not all of them.

No! Solar is solar; depends on available sunlight. India is not going to shut any nuclear power plant and is working on new one or next phase of existing ones.

I believe the parent meant they'd shut down coal plants in favour of nuclear.

Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#53

Post by harryf »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #48
davedx wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> India can develop its solar energy sector by itself. Until the US sues them and the WTO rules against them. http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-india-solar-idINKCN0QV2FD2...

India wants 8% domestic production, and the US has a cry. What a bully. How does the WTO enforce that sort of ruling? India has The Bomb.

Because 8% of India is huge - that would mean India has a functioning solar energy tech sector - perhaps one that might be able to compete worldwide

Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#55

Post by davedx »

teekert wrote: post #32
murukesh_s wrote: post #8

“I sincerely believe that what the West is doing in this respect is anti-development and anti the fight against climate change,” he said, accusing rich countries of charging too much for clean technology." I really don't believe any country is sincere towards climate change. Every country puts their economy before others. So expecting another economy to help you is a foolish assumption.

They certainly are not. Here in the Netherlands we are mostly coal and gas based for electricity yet we want to (unrealistically) ban sales of fossil fuel powered cars. We also raised import taxes on Chinese solar panels, raising the price of solar installations significantly here. It's all for show.

Well, solar installs have still decreased in price overall. I'm writing this as they are in the middle of installing solar panels on my roof in the sunny Netherlands. ROI in Although I do agree government policy as a whole can be sorely lacking in some areas. The gentle, incremental approach has led us to fall behind almost all EU members in meeting renewable goals.

Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#56

Post by davedx »

teekert wrote: post #44
Aeolun wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would we raise prices on ANY solar panels? That seems self-defeating to me. It doesn't really matter where they come from. Any solar panels are good solar panels.

To stimulate local production. But local producers just raised their prices. And, when the new import tax was announced it immediately resulted in shortages because companies kept solar panels in stock to sell them after they raised their prices. Sounds like some good lobbying to me.

Shortages? Raised prices?

I've been tracking prices for solar for the last couple of years, and I've only seen them go down. Pulled the trigger and purchased our own install because they went down yet again this year.

Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#57

Post by hnarn »

levemi wrote: post #51
drjesusphd wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those problems you cited all pale in comparison to global warming. It's a disingenuous comparison.

These problems pale in comparison partly because these sustainable forms of technology aren't being used any meaningful scale yet. How much area do we have to cover with solar panels to power a largish metropolitan area?

The best location for covering a large area of land for purposes of solar energy would arguably be a desert. "90% of the world’s population lives within range of a desert and could be supplied with solar electricity from there", says this article, which also shows you how much needs to be covered to supply the entire globe in theory: http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/22/half-a-trillion-dollars-...

Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#59

Post by fiftyacorn »

ptaipale wrote: post #34
murukesh_s wrote: post #8

“I sincerely believe that what the West is doing in this respect is anti-development and anti the fight against climate change,” he said, accusing rich countries of charging too much for clean technology." I really don't believe any country is sincere towards climate change. Every country puts their economy before others. So expecting another economy to help you is a foolish assumption.

It's a bit strange to say that "rich countries" are "charging too much for clean technology". The countries generally don't own, operate or even develop the technology. The countries don't charge for it. Individual companies, people, innovators make new technology, and they charge as much as they can, as much as the technology is worth to buyers. If "rich countries" mess things up, it's through subsidies to solar, wi…

They are charging in the sense that the policies seeks to maintain the monopolies or positions of existing energy providers. An example being Spain where people have became energy independent, yet still have to pay to maintain the electricity companies infrastructure

Re: Solar is now cheaper than some coal, says India energy minister

#60

Post by cies »

noisy_boy wrote: post #17
murukesh_s wrote: post #8

“I sincerely believe that what the West is doing in this respect is anti-development and anti the fight against climate change,” he said, accusing rich countries of charging too much for clean technology." I really don't believe any country is sincere towards climate change. Every country puts their economy before others. So expecting another economy to help you is a foolish assumption.

You are correct that every country puts their economy before others. However, India is not asking another economy to help them. India can develop its solar energy sector by itself. The west accuses the developing countries to be big polluters since they use less environmentally-friendly means of energy production. Then when countries like India try to subsidize the domestic solar energy market, WTO accuses them of il…

Fk the WTO. Let's forsake them.
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