Solar plants ready in 6 months, nuclear in 20 years

Reportlinker Adds Utilities Go Green: Worldwide Utility Solar Market Shares, Forecasts, and Strategies, 2008-2014

NEW YORK, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue.

Reportlinker Adds Utilities Go Green: Worldwide Utility Solar Market Shares, Forecasts, and Strategies, 2008-2014

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0153925/Reportlinker-Adds-Utilities-Go-Green-Worldwide-Utility-Solar-Market-Shares-Forecasts-and-Strategies-2008-2014.html

As coal, gas, and oil usage are taxed to help prevent pollution and stimulate use of renewable energy sources, solar energy becomes more attractive to the utility grid electricity providers. The environmental impact of energy use choices promises to be an ongoing factor in energy grid supply.

Large scale solar electric power plants are being developed and planned worldwide as an alternative to fossil fuel, or nuclear power generation. These large scale power plants (solar farms) are typically greater than 100 kW in power output and grow in capacity to well over 1 MW. Both Germany and Canada have announced solar farm power plants that will be sized at 40 MW. PV module price decreases continue to drive the growth of large scale solar farm development worldwide.

The speed with which solar system can be put in place by a utility company is a major factor in deciding what kinds of systems to put up. Solar utility systems can be put in place within six months.

The ability to create an operational system in six months instead of 20 years for nuclear systems is significant. Just the cost of capital weighs heavily in favor of solar utility installations. The advantage brought by having paying customers sooner is a major factor supporting implementation of solar systems for generation of utility grid electricity.

Utility vendor electricity solar equipment markets at $10 billion in 2007 are anticipated to reach $78.7 billion by 2014. Growth is a result of using utility electricity solar systems to power the grid. With .3% of the grid powered by solar in 2007, huge growth is set to occur as 6% of the grid power is anticipated to come from solar by 2014, with rapid shifts to solar energy after that. This will come through massive trillion dollar investments in grid capable solar energy systems that are financed throughout the life of the solar installation.

Adoption of solar energy has a simple market driving force. If people do not adopt solar energy, the planet will become unfit for human habitation. The fossil fuels are warming the planet at an increasing rate that makes life unsustainable if something does not change. Global warming drives solar markets. Solar is perceived as the best, perhaps the only widespread solution to global warming. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reportlinker-adds-utilities-go-green-worldwide-utility-solar-market-shares-forecasts-and-strategies-2008-2014-63767882.html

Lindsay Graham seeks to pass Senate Climate Bill by including nuclear

Climate progress 8 Oct 09 “………….E&E News reports:

“Key Senate Democrats signaled yesterday they are willing to negotiate with Republicans on nuclear power…….. Several moderate Senate Republicans, including John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they are in talks with Kerry and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on the nuclear language,”

What exactly do the pro-nuke folk want?

Graham said he is pushing for language in the Senate bill that puts nuclear power on par with wind and solar power in terms of tax credits and inclusion in a nationwide renewable electricity standard……

…….. The final deal is not going to call nuclear power “renewable” and stick it in the existing too-weak renewable standard, I think, but rather may tack on a low carbon electricity standard that includes nuclear, carbon capture and storage, and maybe combined cycle natural gas.

As for McCain, I just don’t know what he means by “a commitment to construction.”  You can’t force people to build nukes — especially at current staggering prices:………. So we’ll throw money at nukes, just like the bill does for CCS, and a few plants will be built and the overwhelming majority of the emissions reductions will be achieved through the low-cost solutions — efficiency and conservation, natural gas fuel switching, and wind, solar thermal, and biomass. http://climateprogress.org/2009/10/08/lindsay-graham-offshore-drilling-robust-nuclear-power-title-republican-votes-cap-and-trade-system/

October 9, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, ENERGY | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, renewables, solar