if a company involved in solar and/or wind production of electricity has hydroelectric capacity as a backup, that's great .... unfortunately, that doesn't appear to universally be the case
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Elio Wiping Out Tesla!
- Thread starter Keith Dahl
- Start date
WilliamH
Elio Addict
INNERGEX.......... From my view point, a foreign company.
ks6c
Elio Addict
With all due respect: it depends, no and NO.
Tax incentives help develop and improve technology when delivered as carte blanche R&D credits in the free market. To the extent that incentives targeting particular industries is seen as a good thing is to imply that government bureaucrats have a crystal ball and know better than entrepreneurs and trained professionals what technology is worth backing. No.
Tax incentives can encourage people to buy particular products (e.g., Cash for Clunkers), but at the expense of other expenditures while they divert money from purchasing in other sectors - net result to the economy, zip.
To say that incentives expand the economy is actually quite the inverse of reality. For every dollar of incentives raised in taxes (have to pay for them somehow), the government takes its cut and creates non-productive jobs, leaving less than that original dollar that would have had more impact if left to circulate in the free market.
Taxes are a drain on the economy, plain and simple. Yes, some level has to exist to pay for defense and infrastructure, but beyond that, they are the proverbial boat anchor.
ks6c
Elio Addict
I googled Innergex - 687 MW of installed capacity (comes right up on their home page), which is the equivalent of 1 single power generation plant. IOW, Innergex is the proverbial piss in the ocean and to try and extrapolate a micro-bubble of an operation and imply it is scalable to an entire continent is ludicrous.
It is the exception, but a valuable innovation which should be considered even if it is foregin. The petty idea that import cars were bad/junk was not a wise decision. We live on a planet, not in a protection zone. PE is not afraid of competition. A large portion of USGDP is wasted on bribes, incentives and subsidies. Let the free market work. If you truly believe in democracy, let it work in the market.
The same comment was made when an international power grid was first proposed. Is this more of the same mentality? Keep burning coal while the world turns brown. Don't allow the use of natural gas to make burning coal at higher temps cleaner. Don't bring in clean energy because it won't scale up?
an exception indeed .... unfortunately, one that can't be duplicated in most of our existing markets .... personally, I would love to see the free market allowed to work in this area .... if it did, the reality is most solar and wind industry operations would die quickly .... with current technology, they only way they can compete financially in production of energy is to be underwritten by a range of public funding .... I do think solar and wind should be part of a total program dedicated to the development and production of energy .... as do nuclear, coal, natural gas, hydro electric, tidal, geothermal, and a host of other resources that can be employed in the making of electricity
ks6c
Elio Addict
You are lumping technically disparate technologies and implying an equivalency of value or potential. No.
In the spirit of disclaimer, I am a degreed electrical engineer, so I tend to search out technical sites and publications, and because of my training, I feel I have a better understanding of what I read than most - certainly, better than average. I also recently retired after 35 years in manufacturing, with a significant number of technical roles and responsibilities that included boilers, generators, power distribution systems, and cost management/cost reduction along the way. IOW, experience.
As a gear head, I love the technology behind solar and wind (nuclear, too, btw), but I absolutely shudder at the economic models. I recently had this discussion (over beers) with the CFO of an East Coast utility concern. He conceded that they can get away with higher than average alternative energy sourcing because of The Grid - IOW, his company relies on the "dirty" power generation of others to cover for the variability (read: unreliability) of alternatives while claiming the moral high ground of renewable. Can anyone say BS?
Paul DeCrans
Elio Aficionado
While one can claim a moral hi ground, they can not sell interruptible power at anything near the rate of constant power. So there is a huge financial incentive to supply power when needed. In our system now $0.27/KW vs $0.09.