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FrostedFlake -> RE: The Story of Stuff (4/15/2012 12:04:35 AM)
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Came back to add this to my earlier post, but edit timeout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwO3MDfUeRo&feature=player_embedded
Regarding the current conditions at Fukushima.
Things ain't good, folks. Visualize 135 tons of nuclear fuel depending on a 33' deep pool with 2 feet of water left in it and so much radiation the robots can't hack so the Yakuza is 'recruiting' 'Nuclear Workers' to do what the robots can't. Add to this a 98% prediction of a Richter 7 in the next 1000 days. That would mean Tokyo would be to all practical purpose gone and Seattle would be locked indoors for the duration.
Doing things differently in future is prevented only by the blind acceptance of the current paradigm. All but one of Japans reactors are shut down, now, and the locals are opposing the federals over whether they will be turned back on. Hey, the lights are still on, so who needs the nukes!?!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/solar-prices-idUSL2E8FAD0X20120413
quote:
By Matt Daily and Krishna N Das
April 10 | Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:59pm EDT
(Reuters) - Solar panels prices have kept marching lower this year, extending steep declines seen in 2011 and keeping pressure on hard-hit manufacturers who have struggled to eke out profits, industry experts said.
Average selling prices for the photovoltaic modules that turn sunlight into electricity have dropped to 80 to 85 cents per watt, a decline of more than 10 percent from levels near 95 cents recorded at the end of 2011, a year that saw prices fall by about 50 percent.
http://energyoutlook.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-photovoltaic-price-trend-sustainable.html
quote:
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Is the Photovoltaic Price Trend Sustainable?
It has been widely assumed among pundits and policy makers that the continued expansion of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations will drive down PV costs until the electricity they produce is competitive with conventional power sources without the need for subsidies. This belief is grounded in both recent PV cost trends and the well-known "experience curve" effect in manufacturing, in which costs tend to fall in proportion to cumulative output. However, anyone following the fortunes of big PV manufacturers like First Solar, SunPower, and China-based Suntech and Trina Solar might have reason to question this conventional wisdom. Their latest earnings reflect an industry stressed by softening demand in its core market in Europe and facing global overcapacity along the supply chain. This has me wondering how much of the recent decline in PV prices was due to the inherent progression of the technology, and how much to unsustainable market and competitive pressures.
quote:
an industry stressed by softening demand in its core market in Europe and facing global overcapacity along the supply chain
That means the manufacturers have produced more than people bought, which means there is now excess capacity. This is called, winning.
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