Bush Rapes U.S. Solar Companies
Its time to start dragging Bush Republicans out of their homes and urinating on their faces. If that is not possible, we should hold them down and rub human feces on their heads. Lets just get this shit over with. They hate America and are doing everything they can to obliterate our future. They are corrupt, vile, devious creatures who deserve nothing but scorn and hate. What got me so riled up - besides tons of caffeine? Bushs latest attempt to destroy solar energy. Its pretty fucking amazing, considering the current state we find ourselves in.
Ill get to the new solar bullshit in a minute, but first we should take a little trip into the past, back 10 years ago, when our government destroyed a U.S. owned wind power company. Ever heard of a company called Kenetech Windpower, formerly known as U.S. Windpower? No? Thats because it doesnt exist anymore. Once it was the nations largest wind power producer, then our government murdered it.
Stanley Charren, who saw a future in wind as a power source, created U.S. Windpower in 1974. It began producing first generation wind turbines in the 80s. The company began attracting the biggest and smartest minds of alternative energy from around the world. They were leaders of wind power technology across the globe, which meant a U.S. owned company was poised to make a difference in alternative energy. Basically, they were kicking ass and taking numbers.
American wind power designers constantly sought breakthroughs. They wanted to bypass the drudgery of incremental development and bat a home run. American's leapt from one size to the next with little transition.
But the company was obviously fighting an uphill battle against Reagan retardation. (Thats the actual technical term.) Ronnie did everything he could to make sure alternative energy did not harm sweet, sweet Republican oil profits. He slowly repealed tax breaks and entitlements for wind power but left the good old tax breaks for oil. Go figure.
By 1988, in fact, wind power sales plunged over 1,000 percent from their 1985 peak to a measly $67 million per year. As visions of wind power grandeur faded, many companies were forced out of business.
And yet, U.S. Windpower kept moving forward. The company renamed itself Kenetech and had long-term contracts with California that kept it crawling along. Then Kenetech had a break through: Model 33M-VS.
It used a variable-speed turbine that adjusted to the wind's speed, thus capturing more energy. Wear and tear was reduced, as was the costly maintenance required by traditional turbines. Furthermore, because the torque level was lower, the 33M-VS used less expensive parts and was about 25 percent less expensive to manufacture than the 56-100. The end result of Kenetech's efforts was that it had reduced the cost of generating a kilowatt-hour of electricity from $.075 to below $.05, suddenly making wind power cost-competitive with systems utilizing coal, natural gas, hydropower, or geothermal energy.
In 1991, Kenetechs California contracts ran out, but the company struggled along without the tax breaks given to big oil and even though oil prices were plummeting. The company began landing other large contracts with states like Maine and foreign countries, like Canada and Ukraine. Kenetech was also developing projects in Spain, Holland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Honduras, Costa Rica, New Zealand, India, China, Guatemala, and Egypt. A U.S. alternative energy company was poised to become a major global player. But our government wasnt big on the idea.
In 1995, (Yeah, thats Clintons time, dipshits. He was a Republican who called himself a Democrat) the EPA and the BLM suspended construction on a Kenetech wind-farm project in western Wyoming. Why? Turns out the EPA needed to complete an environmental impact statement. It was necessary because Clinton was a corporate whore who got on his knees and gobbled for every big company that came around. That was August 1995.
Turns out that if a struggling company is developing a large wind farm and you pull the rug out from under them, they fail. Kenetech declared bankruptcy in May 1996. In 1999 another company, Tacoma Power, completed the Wyoming Wind Project. The Foote Creeke Rim is one of the windiest places in the US.
Now, youre probably asking why this is such a big deal. An American company called Tacoma Power developed the wind farm in the end, so it ends will, right? Wrong. What happened was Reagan and Clinton combined to destroy an American company that was the leader in wind power technology. After the destruction of Kenetech, the torch was passed to European companies, like Vestas, who are now the leaders of wind power technology. Americans could be building the fucking things and leading the way, but we're not.
We still have GE, but that has not stopped European companies from pouring into the country and consolidating control of U.S. renewable energy space. We are now back in the pack. We should have been first. Reagan killed the tax cuts and Clinton landed the final blow.
In the 80s, the U.S. had over half of the installed wind capacity worldwide. The USA gradually lost its leadership when the cuts Ronald Reagan made to Jimmy Carters programs to develop renewable energy began to undo the initial progress.
But why stop at just wind power? We are America, after all. We can't lead the pack in anything. Not with the retards we call leaders. Yes, our wonderful president, George Bush, is attacking solar power with the exact same plan.
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.
How many American companies will die a miserable death because of this move? How will it affect Americas standing in this burgeoning solar market? How will if effect the amount we pay for energy?
According to the bureau, the applications, which cover more than one million acres, are for projects that have the potential to power more than 20 million homes.
Oh, and dont forget that Republicans are blocking Congress from renewing tax credits from solar companies, while blocking the elimination of tax breaks for oil companies.
The industry is already concerned over the fate of federal solar investment tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress renews them. The moratorium, combined with an end to tax credits, would deal a double blow to an industry that, solar advocates say, has experienced significant growth without major environmental problems.
The Bureau of Land Management owns 650 million acres of land, much of that in the hot west. It is the most valuable land in terms of solar energy potential. Bush just destroyed the solar business in the U.S. This is another epic disaster from the Bush White House.
Suck My Solar Power, Saudi Arabia
Every once is a while a new technology comes along that completely changes our world. One such technology started hitting the market yesterday and it is fucking awesome. It is a solar panel without the panel. This new technology is thin as a paint coating and it coverts sunlight to electricity. Oh, and its cheaper than coal. I just got my first sunlight erection.
The company, Nanosolar, has built two plants, one in Germany and the other in Silicon Valley. They already have orders for 18 months of production.
The first Nanosolar panels are destined for a one-megawatt solar plant to be installed in Germany on a former landfill owned by a waste management company. The plant, being developed by Beck Energy, is expected to initially supply electrical power for about 400 homes.
The company is backed by Google, of course, and they received $20 million from the US Department of Energy. The technology has been around for years, but the Silicon Valley based Nanosolar was the company that devised a way to make the manufacturing process affordable. They created printing press like machines to put a layer of solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil. Now we live in a world where solar powered buildings will be plentiful, which will reduce pollutants produced by dirty energy sources. Because it is fucking cheaper than coal. I just got another sunlight erection.
"Youre talking about printing rolls of the stuffprinting it on the roofs of 18-wheeler trailers, printing it on garages, printing it wherever you want it, says Dan Kammen, founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley. It really is quite a big deal in terms of altering the way we think about solar and in inherently altering the economics of solar.
The panels will cost about a tenth of what current solar panels cost and several hundred feet per minute can be whipped out. As of now, the plant can create 430 megawatts of solar cells a year, which is more than all the solar plants currently in the US. Cost has always been what held solar back from being a popular energy source. Traditional solar cells use silicon, which is very expensive. It then has to be placed on glass, which makes the panels heavy, dangerous, expensive to ship and install. And 70 percent of the silicon is wasted during manufacturing. The end result is panels that cost $3 per watt, while the new PowerSheets cost $1 per watt.
Looks like the only problem will be keeping up with demand. California has a state initiative that provides tax breaks and rebates to encourage the installation of 100,000 roofs a year for 10 consecutive years.
You know whats fun about scientists? Nothing. Anytime they are on screen, there is a horrible void. Thankfully, his lack of charisma is crushed by his world changing brain.