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Apparently solar energy is generating more jobs right now, in the US, than any other energy source. Would that the stimulus spending have taken this possibility into account.
http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/clean-energy-is-booming-and-creating-jobs.php?ref=fpblg
Originally posted by WoodPushInstalling new installations perhaps can't grow as an industry forever, but it can grow for a really, really long time, especially as the installations become smaller and more efficient.
Seems like most of those jobs are construction to deploy new installations. That can't last forever. So, it's stimulus as your title suggests, but that's good too at this point.
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I think the industry also has some serious export potential, with plenty of skilled and semi-skilled labor less susceptible to outsourcing economics.
There are some interesting programs out there, and while conservatives and even moderate liberals often roll their eyes at what comes out of Berkeley, California, they did institute a policy which is being emulated in other cities and counties right now. Basically, for qualifying buildings (southern exposure, etc.) they pay to install a solar power system on your property and you pay it off as a lien with your parcel taxes semi-annually. If you sell, the lien stays with the property, and your "taxes" are reduced once it's paid off. I don't think they charge interest, but I'm sure there are fees worked into the balance.
Maybe some federal money thrown into similar programs would have been more productive in terms of jobs than bank bailouts.
Depending what you are using your numbers to determine, they might be skewed. In New York the solar stimulus is very large in dollar terms and expires (and looks like it will not renew). Thus, many people/ businesses who are considering building will build now. The rate of new building could rapidly decrease in 2012.
Originally posted by sh76Moreover there is the maintenance of all those installations to take into account, if someone hasn't already mentioned that.
Installing new installations perhaps can't grow as an industry forever, but it can grow for a really, really long time, especially as the installations become smaller and more efficient.
I mean, hell, nothing lasts forever.
-Removed-A combination of alternatives is key. Solar, geothermal, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, and some nuclear power, with (ideally) a decreasing fossil fuel dependency. And solar power is getting more competitive every year, not just because of increasing efficiency due to better technology, but also due to economies of scale. This is why government subsidies are important to "kick start" the industry, so that the technology becomes widely adopted in x years instead of the 3x years it would take if it was all left to the "free market" alone.
Originally posted by quackquackNew York isn't exactly a searing desert. Is solar worth it that far north?
Depending what you are using your numbers to determine, they might be skewed. In New York the solar stimulus is very large in dollar terms and expires (and looks like it will not renew). Thus, many people/ businesses who are considering building will build now. The rate of new building could rapidly decrease in 2012.
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Originally posted by quackquackPerhaps. But not so if they got even a fraction of the subsidies afforded nuclear and oil. And coal.
Depending what you are using your numbers to determine, they might be skewed. In New York the solar stimulus is very large in dollar terms and expires (and looks like it will not renew). Thus, many people/ businesses who are considering building will build now. The rate of new building could rapidly decrease in 2012.