I’m pleased to see this step in the right direction, even if it is too small a step.
President Barack Obama announced Saturday the awarding of nearly $2 billion for new solar plants that he said will create thousands of jobs and increase the country’s use of renewable energy sources.
Obama disclosed the funding in his weekly radio and online address, saying it is part of his plan to bring new industries to the U.S.
"We’re going to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and industries of the future are taking root right here in America," Obama said.
The two companies that will receive the funds from the president’s $862 billion economic stimulus are Abengoa Solar, which will build one of the world’s largest solar plants in Arizona, creating 1,600 construction jobs; and Abound Solar Manufacturing, which is building plants in Colorado and Indiana. The Obama administration says those projects will create more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Washington Post>
Here’s my beef. Why is more than 2/3 of this money going to Red states, especially Arizona? That racist witch, Brewer, is likely to use the plant for a Latino BBQ.
10 Responses to “$2 Billion for Solar Power”
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Actually, I’m surprised that Brewer isn’t fighting this. She just wants to Piss and moan. Her pretense of caring for her state is bullcrap.
Brewer will react in two ways. First she will slam Obama for it. Then she will take credit for getting the money for her state.
It is a step in the right direction and I am glad they are doing this. I checked to see if they were public companies, but they are not…bummer.
Keep checking, Lisa. With that kind of backing they are likely to go public.
how much would the electricity generated cost if that $2B were amortized?
and how much coal generated electricity will it take to build the panels, and how much diesel fuel will it take to mine the materials, transport the panels, and build the arrays?
(colorado 76% coal, indiana over 95%) & mining & transport of materials is energy intensive…
in other words, what is the EROEI?
Hi RJ. I can’t answer your questions, because I don’t know the output or lifespans of the plants in question.
I know it’s become popular to use EROEI, but it really wasn’t intended for this purpose. Energy returned on energy invested works best for non-sustained or quantified reactions, such as a biofuel. If producing the biofuel consumes more energy that burning it will produce, it’s a bad investment. If keeping a fusion reactor going consumes more energy than it can produce, it’s a bad investment.
But the energy cost of solar power is not sustained. Most costs are up front and included in the cost of panel production and setup, with minimal ongoing maintenance costs. Against that we need to evaluate the energy produced over the entire lifetime of the panels.
picked up some info on the web…
“Abengoa’s plant, to be built 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of Phoenix, will be the world’s largest solar-power installation, producing 250 megawatts and serving 70,000 families, the company said July 3 in a statement.
The plant, scheduled to go into operation by 2011, is located 70 miles southwest of Phoenix and will sell the electricity produced to APS over the next 30 years for a total revenue of around $4 billion, bringing more than $1 billion in economic benefits to the State of Arizona.
The Solana installation, using solar-thermal technology, will prevent 475,000 tons in carbon-dioxide emissions annually, according to the company’s calculations. ”
well, for the reasons in my first comment, the “carbon savings” may be fictional, but we have no way of figuring that with the info available…that 250MW is about one fifth a nuclear plant, so the costs seem in line…
check my on the fly calcs; 4B over 30 years is 130million per year; for 70,000 customers thats around $1900 per annum electric bills…
Thanks RJ. This is great info. When I lived in Phoenix, my average-pay electric bill for a small house was $210/month or $2520 per year. That was from 1976-1979, and prices have gone way up since.
here’s more: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2010/06/28/daily85.html?s=industry&i=energy
Thanks RJ. Good link.