Chemical Engineer <[email protected]> wrote: Shouldn't the costs be going down Jed? > > > http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/12/05/pge-says-it-will-meet-california-s-renewable-energy-goals&utm_medium=eNL&utm_campaign=RB_DAILY2&utm_term=Original-Member > > As an engineer i have to deal with reality which focuses my creativity . . > . >
As an engineer you should know that by the time you manufacture 780 million mirrors, the cost per unit will fall. Please stop playing the fool. As I am sure you know -- as ANYONE knows -- solar and wind electricity are more expensive than coal today. If that were not so, the power companies would be abandoning coal as quickly as they could phase out the old plants. However, when you factor in externalities such as the ~20,000 people killed per year from coal smoke, and the cost of global warming, coal is a lot more expensive. And if you build ~50 gigawatts of CSP plants the cost will fall by a large factor. There is nothing inherently expensive about reflectors. > Sorry I keep forgetting i can use unlimited ungrounded creativity and make > stuff up. Robots for everybody! > If you do not think we will soon have robots for everyone, you are not an engineer. Looking around in 1980, did you have any doubt that we would soon all have computers. What on earth will prevent us from having robots?!? Why do you think it would be a problem to equip a major CSP installation with robots to clean the reflectors? Do you think people are going to use Windex and paper towels in the 21st century? - Jed
