First Solar Power Projects Approved to be Built on U.S. Public Lands

Glad to see that, then, that they're redoing the White House solar panels. There were folks rather miffed about Obama not putting Carter's back up as a symbol, but it kind of seemed to me like turning green energy into a flag to plant for the Democrats, which isn't really a very good image you want to associate with green initiatives in general.

Good signs all around.

sorry but we don't f**king need this.

@guns are cool...

yes because green energy is a SHAM! (sarcasm) DANG YOU GLOBAL WARMING, YOU'VE TAKEN OVER MY GOVERNMENT!

oh please...

@ guns are cool

Even George W. Bush knew that dependency on foreign oil is counterproductive to our national security. So just look at it from that angle and get over it. (Oh and fossil fuels wont last forever, even energy companies realize this and are planning accordingly).

Way to go USA for at least taking this tiny (almost infinitesimal really) step to reaching energy independence.

This is encouraging news !!

http://www.thekpv.com
The hybrid electric kinetic powered vehicle

lnwolf41 Yea its good till the lizard dies then we are killing the world for green energy.

I wonder how many of the large solar farms around the world are producing electricity at rates competitive with other sources, factoring in government subsidies. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that the U.S. isn't "behind." It's just been economically unfeasible. When it becomes economically competitive, solar power plants will pop up all over.

Economically competitive is a much more difficult standard than most people realize. To be economically competitive a plant has to have a greater profit margin than existing plants sufficient to reimburse the initial cost of construction, cover maintainace, and improve profit margins.

If it only "breaks even" with existing power plants, why would you build another? If demand increases, increasing output on existing facilities is always cheaper.

That is why the government is willing to offer up free land and subsidies. That way all a plant has to do is offset maintainace and increase profit margins to be viable.

The only problem is, without public sector funds, these projects are insanely unside down compared to traditional projects.

All of this aside from solar's existing limitations (which is why offshore wind's increased reliability has made it more viable, and why hydroelectrics virtues have had it in the system almost from the beginning).

Personally, with the increased sophistication of off site control, small scale hydroelectric is looking much more viable (small scale also carries less ecological impact), along with non-retentive hydro (river turbines in large waterways). Costal/tidal still has a way to go to reduce maintainace, however, there are thousands of flood control dams in the US which are already well behind in safty upgrades which could easily be retrofitted as energy producing stations. While they would not have the same reliability as large scale projects (dry seasons would diminish output considerably), they would be FAR less fickle that solar or offshore wind.

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As a fan of all types of energy ("green" or otherwise) I can only reply "It's about time".

PV cells are a total waste of energy. They can not still produce more energy than was used to create them. These types of solar collection actually are green or at least can be green to some extent. The sun is a good source for heat. If the energy that was used to create and maintain this system is kept as low as possible it should be more favorable to burning oil.

One thing I do know about energy. It is a lot easier to conserve that to create.

Still say nuclear is the far better alternative. High upfront costs, but cheaper and less impact on the environment than any fuel burning power plant.

why build solar and wind they are a waste build nuclear creates tonnes of high paying jobs and tons of power.

wasn't it just the other week that scientists were saying, that if they deployed a solar-sail with a kilometer long aerial; that they could harness a billion billion times (or 100 billion x) the power that the earth uses, and the only problem they could see was getting energy back to earth,(maybe wasn't on popsci)
even if they used a cable system & only got small percentage (10%)back to earth then surely would be more effective,could even deploy fleet of solar sails and better than using thousands of acres of land to power small amount of houses and being not very productive on heavily clouded days

was popsci; here article link
www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-10/solar-wind-could-replace-solar-wind-renewable-energy-source
they reckoned billion billion gigawatts of power from 1 solar-sail; so a fleet of 10 would be enough to power every home car,plane,boat,broadcasting system & anything & everything else we could think of

A small green solution to fossil fuels

With the combination of solar and wind we could do so much. Put a few thousand acres of solar in the sahara and pip that across the world to help bring down costs. Make it to where homes have to have solar slates or panels on the ruff to help even out the coast of the plants build. Nuclear is a bad choice even though it doesn't have a CO2 output and it's a bit cheaper but people tend to forget that it makes nuclear wast. It takes at least 1'000 yrs. to become non toxic and they want to store it underground with the possibility of leaking into the ground. I think it's a fantastic step. To start with solar they just need to add it to urban areas where the most electricity is used.

This is a great step in the right direction. Using this could save money and save the environment at the same time. Solar power is the more desired alternative.

This is a great step in the right direction. Using this could save money and save the environment at the same time. Solar power is the more desired alternative.

This is a great step in the right direction. Using this could save money and save the environment at the same time. Solar power is the more desired alternative.

This is a great step in the right direction. Using this could save money and save the environment at the same time. Solar power is the more desired alternative.

This is a great step in the right direction. Using this could save money and save the environment at the same time. Solar power is the more desired alternative.

This is a great step in the right direction. Using this could save money and save the environment at the same time. Solar power is the more desired alternative.

This is a great step in the right direction. Using this could save money and save the environment at the same time. Solar power is the more desired alternative.

Make them foot their on bills. They have the money to do so. Public land is something we all have access to but now it is being given away to big corporations that already bleed us dry. Let's see, they get the land and the funding at zero cost and all they are responsible for is running the place and collecting the money, sounds sweet for somebody but it's not you and me. Sorry for the rant but lets get real.

Commercial Fusion. This is the hope for the future, and its closer than most people think. There are two promising ventures that are due to complete in the near future.

www.iter.org
(Torroidal magnetic confined)

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ignition_Facility
(Laser confined)

I find that likely ITER will win out, but as CERN/Tevatron have demonstrated, competition is good. It gets people off their asses.

The idea that we can sustain inertial confinement with a big machine, but we can't reflect simple sunlight without one is hard for me to get. We really can't do better than that bulky piece in the pic? Get Real.

Death Valley could power half the coast with some effort.