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| God save us from unelected bureaucrats - Solar Energy Stopped |
| 2008-06-27 |
| DENVER -- Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental impact, which is expected to take about two years. The Bureau of Land Management says an extensive environmental study is needed to determine how large solar plants might affect millions of acres it oversees in six Western states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. But the decision to freeze new solar proposals temporarily, reached late last month, has caused widespread concern in the alternative-energy industry, as fledgling solar companies must wait to see if they can realize their hopes of harnessing power from swaths of sun-baked public land, just as the demand for viable alternative energy is accelerating. 'It doesn't make any sense,' said Holly Gordon, vice president for legislative and regulatory affairs for Ausra, a solar thermal energy company in Palo Alto, Calif. 'The Bureau of Land Management land has some of the best solar resources in the world. This could completely stunt the growth of the industry.' |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #8 'It doesn't make any sense,' said Holly Gordon, vice president for legislative and regulatory affairs for Ausra, a solar thermal energy company in Palo Alto, Calif. 'The Bureau of Land Management land has some of the best solar resources in the world. This could completely stunt the growth of the industry.' After the solar plants are up, the Gila monster will no longer want to mate thus endangering the fragile desert bio-diversity and the blight of massive solar panels will lead to the destruction of the pristine desert environment. |
| Posted by: Your Typical Enviroweenie 2008-06-27 23:49 |
| #7 What I want to know is: what is the impact of a solar plant versus, say, drilling on four square miles of ANWR? |
| Posted by: AzCat 2008-06-27 19:52 |
| #6 We can downplay solar all we want, but it is another way to get power that does not come from our enemies. I absolutely agree that we should have distributed solar on homes and businesses. If there was a justification for government subsidy, this is one IMO. But I think some of the focused solar plants make sense too. But typical of the bureacrats to focus on all the reasons why we shouldn't so something. Pretty clear why nothing significant can get done in this country. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2008-06-27 15:09 |
| #5 OS, the enviros created the system and now they have to live by the same rules the rest of us have had to for the last decade or so. In addition, a million acres plus is a huge chunk of land and where these solar farms are located DOES make a difference. Since the developments would be on non-wilderness or roaded lands and would have restricted access for the public, the public should have a say in the matter since they would probably lose access to those lands. Environmental considerations include public access, grazing, mining, tourism, water, roads, public safety, costs to the local community and economy, how many birds will be fried by the directed solar array, endangered species, ect, ect. This will hopefully minimize the boondoggle factor on this type of project. |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-06-27 15:04 |
| #4 Typical environmentalists to block ANY sctions that supply power to support civilizations. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-06-27 14:18 |
| #3 I agree. Individual homes and buildings - fine. Utility 'line resistance' over distances (and transformer step-up/step-down loss) creates a marked drop in power delivery efficiency. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2008-06-27 14:12 |
| #2 Solar probably makes a great deal of sense, on an individual home basis. The solar farm thingy sounds dubious at best. If they can't make it on market capital I have serious doubts about it as even a peaking station. On a single house basis, it can make 2-5kW no problem, trying to generate MegaWatts is another story though. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-06-27 13:35 |
| #1 No big deal. Solar will continue to be a niche market for the foreseeable future. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2008-06-27 13:01 |