Optimism about solar power: still and again

I ended yesterday's entry with the idea of hope. We can reasonably hope that it is possible to build a sustainable capitalism, and that certain investors and fund managers now active are engaged in this work -- uniting the profit motive with the save-the-planet motive.

After completing work on that post I found an article in NEW SCIENTIST with the headline "Solar energy is going to power the world much sooner than you think."

Let us pay a little attention to the case made in this article by Madeleine Cuff, a London based reporter who has devoted years to environmental/energy issues.

Solar energy is going to power the world much sooner than you think | New Scientist

Cuff cites an analysis by a UK based think tank that said that solar has been the largest source of new electricity globally for the last three years in a row.

The good news, the reason for Cuff's optimistic headline, is that over the last 15 years, the cost of installing a solar system have dropped dramatically. Ninety percent. THAT is dramatic. Cuff quotes Sam Stranks, of the University of Cambridge, saying that the silicon panels involved are now the same cost as plywood.

"Ah, but one has to store much of it! The sun can be a fickle supplier!" That has long been the cry of skeptics. But the cost of lithium ion batteries is also plummeting. It has dropped 40 percent in just the last two years, so solar-plus-storage setups are becoming increasingly cost effective.

Something to think about when the boneheads are yelling "drill baby drill."

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