Thoughts About the Environmental NewsThere is a lot of writing about Environmental news lately. Alternative Energy issues are on the front burner. A good bit of this is spent on advancements to Photovoltaic cells. They have been around for a little while but Solar Shingles are getting some attention. Probably the main reason is aesthetics. These look more natural, and are space friendly. Thin Film efficiency is coming along. (Flexable Solar Panels). Prices per watt are dropping. The future of Solar is looking bright (pun intended). Commercial solar is now being sold with Power Purchase Agreements. This allows electricity to be bought at a fixed rate, usually at or below current rates. Some power companies using Solar generation offer portions of this electricity to be bought by consumers at a slightly higher rate. This helps them to offset their cost of producing alternative power. Then there is the Nuclear Energy debate. The pros are: The cons are: The waste (although minimal) remains deadly for centuries. And what do we do with it? What about Hydrogen Fuel Cells? We seem to get all kinds of promising reports about the advantage of renewable energy technology but the advancements are a little slow. If big oil is waiting for the right profit margins to get with the program then maybe it's up to us to steal the industry from them.
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