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| Moderated by: Joe Kelley |
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| Knowledge | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Fri Jul 28th, 2006 11:08 am |
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1st Post |
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Joe Kelley Administrator
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http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/blackouts.html The Real Cause of Blackouts by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Knowledge? http://www.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae8_3_6.pdf
I've tried to discuss these issues with the Austrian Economists. Here: http://austrianforum.com/index.php?showtopic=364 The Austrian Thought Police have censored my efforts deceitfully. Why? Take these statements: "what you need to know" "...solar electricity generation have been around for a very long time and were displaced by fossil fuels in the nineteenth century because of physical and economic limitations that have yet to be over-come." I chose the title Knowledge Blackout for a reason. Solar panels earn approximately 5% interest on investment based upon calculations done, by me, some time ago; now the rate of return on investment may be higher due to lower cost and more efficent solar panels and higher costs of electricity from current sources. Before moving on to recalculate the 'Bang for the Buck' on solar panels and therefore show how 'what you need to know' is not what is being propagandized by the Austrian Economics 'professors', before doing that, it is vital to understand a few things concerning the costs of electricity from current courses. Let's first find the source of power for the great majority of electricity in the U.S.A.  From here: http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelelectric.html Costs: http://www.elpc.org/energy/coal/index.php Despite advances in renewable energy, the nation still depends on coal-fired power plants for half of its electrical power. Coal plants are among the dirtiest sources of power, especially because existing legislation does not adequately protect the public. Many power companies exploit a loophole in the Clean Air Act which requires that only new or modified power sources comply with Clean Air Act standards. http://healthandenergy.com/nuclear_power.htm A U.S. scientist says nuclear power plants are safer for health than coal generation. Professor Bernard Cohen, writing in a British journal, says coal wastes are 40 times more harmful to human health than nuclear wastes. Fifteen 15 tons of CO2 are produced every minute in large coal generators (plus other waste chemicals) while a nuclear station generates the same electricity with five million times less waste (by weight). He estimates that air pollution from an average coal plant kills 25 people a year, while nuclear wastes from the same size plant would kill 0.018 people.
The Costs above are presented merely as a measure of uncertainty concerning the costs of electricity now. Any economic calculation that does not account for all the costs is a false calculation and false in proportion to the unaccounted costs. Moving on to Solar power costs and benefits (a feasibility study): Here is a source that can be studied: http://www.partsonsale.com/products2.html#homekits I'll leave that practical method alone for now and work the simplest angle. What is the cost of one Solar Panel? http://www.affordable-solar.com/solar.panels.htm Look at the averages. I'm going to use 200 watts for 1,000 dollars. I'm going to use those numbers because the idea is to make the calculation simple and basic. For 1000 dollars a person can get a device that turns sunlight into 200 watts of electricity. I've done this before and what becomes obvious is a need to keep things simple because complexity causes error. The reader may already be overwhelmed. That does not need to happen. The most important and simplest problem concerns time. Think this way: How much time does it take to earn the 1000 dollar cost of one Solar Panel? If the reader does try to answer the question of how much time does it take to earn the 1000 dollar investment of one Solar Panel, then, the reader can clearly see if the investment is worth the cost. Before diving into the numbers it may help to guess the answer to the question of how much time does it take for the one Solar Panel to pay for itself. Suppose that the Solar Panel pays for itself in 10 years time. The reader may scoff and reject the whole idea because 10 years is a long time. What the reader will do, if that is the case, is prefer to get something for nothing. That is my opinion. Consider this: A Solar Panel is now generating a guaranteed output for 25 years. Assuming that the guarantee is legitimate (assumptions backed by published claims) and assuming that the Solar Panel will pay for itself in 10 years, then, 15 years of time will pass by while the Solar Panel produces costless electricity. Time must be understood clearly when thinking in economical terms. The bang for the buck goes like this: 1000 bucks down payment. 10 years to pay for one Solar Panel. 15 years of Bang (free electricity). Time complicates the economical formula because people can't wait. If one Solar Panel was purchased 10 years ago, then, today that Solar Panel will produce free electricity for 15 years. That is simple but too simple because one Solar Panel can generate only 200 watts and only as the Sun shines. However; 15 years of free electricity for 1000 dollars must be understood first before moving on; in my opinion. This must be understood because the economical calculation must begin somewhere and it must begin somewhere simple. How much benefit is gained from one Solar Panel? That is the second step. This was the first step: How much time does it take for one Solar Panel to pay for itself? 10 years (numbers to be calculated later). This is the second step: The benefit gained by one Solar Panel is 15 years of free electricty. Bang for the Buck: 15 years (Bang) for 10 years (Buck). One Solar Panel pays for itself in 10 years time and then for 15 years that one Solar Panel generates 15 years of free electricity. Before moving on to the calculation to find exactly how many years it does take for one Solar Panel to pay for itself (It was 9 years last time I checked) let me add something called economies of scale. Economies of scale means: If one Solar Panel pays for itself in 10 years then 6 billion Solar Panels pay for themselves in 10 years. If one Solar Panel generates free electricity for 15 years (after paying for itself in 10 years), then, 6 billion Solar Panels generate free electricity for 15 years. Verstanden? This post is long enough. Either the reader is curious enough to respond or, in my opinion, they want something for nothing.
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