What is Digg?42 Comments
- MacBookForMe, on 08/29/2008, -1/+23Wuff, these are really big numbers...solar power has finally started to rock!
- Barackalypse, on 08/30/2008, -4/+21Imagine that, $400 million for solar and not a penny of it unConstitutional government subsidies. For anyone that says free markets don't work, eat your heart out, the free market arrives with hundreds of millions of dollars of private equity capital, free of any bureaucratic and political restrictions from a corrupt government. Your vote with your wallet means far more than any vote you can cast at the polls.
- inactive, on 08/30/2008, -1/+17Submitted by ecoHottie.
- Murdats, on 08/30/2008, -1/+11the free market does work, eventually.
this should have been done decades ago, the free market only takes financial cost into account, not environmental or social costs.
the free market will only act after the environmental or social costs are so high that it starts hurting financially.
the free market only acts when it really, really has to, not when it should. - Shiggie, on 08/30/2008, -0/+8Well, this is a HUGE step.
- Barackalypse, on 08/30/2008, -0/+6And the government always reacts once something has already become a problem, plus it has the nasty habit of spending too much money for the product it ultimately gets.
- inactive, on 08/30/2008, -2/+6CAN I GET SOME STOCK SYMBOLS!!
- inactive, on 08/30/2008, -1/+5Say " I " if you clicked on her [his] profile for pics
- mgri, on 08/30/2008, -0/+4I think most of these companies are privately held. i.e. not on the stock market. Correct me if I'm wrong.
- BotchaMcCoola, on 08/30/2008, -3/+7What a waste. That money could have been used to build higher walls in Iraq cities.
- chmstar, on 08/30/2008, -1/+3Time for the heckling skeptics to eat some crow.
- Nudar, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2How about making a law that requires solar panels to be recycled? Problem solved.
- omgwtflawl, on 08/30/2008, -2/+4I came in to say exactly the same thing! Unfortunately, reading the article it seems 35 million came from the Dept. of Agriculture, but I don't see any g-funding besides that.
And Murdats, why should this have been done decades ago? We didn't have the technology to do this decades ago, so we would have bought a ***** of the crappy solar panels with 7% efficiency or whatever.
The free market acts exactly when it should; when something becomes profitable. Solar energy is becoming profitable due to rising energy costs and recent technological developments, so people are investing in it now. - Brutusfly, on 08/30/2008, -2/+4True, as long as you ignore all the other instances where the world's problems could be solved, but aren't because it isn't profitable.
- ezcheezbandit, on 08/30/2008, -0/+2bubbles or not, it's progress.
- Mallhew, on 08/30/2008, -0/+2In fact, alternative energies like solar have to overcome heavy subsidizing for fossil fuels, far greater than they are for alternative energies.
That makes government subsidies the enemy independence from foreign oil and the environment. - thegrantman, on 08/31/2008, -0/+2Radioactive waste has no chance of killing millions.It is still the cleanest alternative.The current method of storage will work until a better solution can be found.
- cjhowe, on 08/30/2008, -1/+2The government 'talking' about solving the problem keeps would have been investors on the sidelines. Why drop $400 MM when the government may give your competitor an unfair advantage?
- thegrantman, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1True,though I would still buy them if I could reduce my bill in the long run.If a company is going to make "green" products,part of the sale price should include proper disposal.
- DubiousDrewski, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1'I' clicked and I was not disappointed.
- tidu, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
- Ibox, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1hope it works out...
- inactive, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/corporate/investor-i ...
- ezcheezbandit, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1Most new appliances sold in my county have a disposal tax added on. This is not a new idea.
- man3ster, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1ecoHottie has got it going on.
- ezcheezbandit, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1"no chance"? of killing millions? There is always a chance.
- Terisita, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1That's great news, we need more money poured into solar, wind and alternative energy not more digging for oil. Thanks for the info.
- mrjhmm, on 08/31/2008, -0/+1400 M is 400,000 in Spanish speaking countries. The M stands for 'mil' which means 'thousand'.
In English speaking countries 400 M stands for 'million', as in 400,000,000.
Welcome to the United States. - inactive, on 08/30/2008, -0/+1Excellent,
Even Nicole Richie can be environmentally friendly - jdh358, on 08/30/2008, -2/+2OK - let's play this game. Where does nuclear waste go? Some magical land where nothing will ever happen and we'll all hold hands and skip down main street singing the praises of pure, clean radioactive power with no chance of killing millions?
- ezcheezbandit, on 08/30/2008, -1/+1Ok so solar panel manufacturing requires use of solvents. Remember that uranium or whatever fuel they use in a nuclear plant has to be mined and refined into fuel rods before they use them, and just separating the uranium from the rest of the junk requires a lot more than solvents.
You want to talk about where do the old solar panels go? Well solar panels aren't radioactive, so, anywhere. Where do you put millions of tons of spent fuel rods that will continue to be radioactive for a long, long, long time? And don't say bullets and armor because that's what the US does with DU and it's absolutely ***** horrible. There are many countries littered with US Depleted Uranium rounds and I doubt that helps anything.
Have you ever heard of a solar power plant having a meltdown? Chernobyl, Three Mile Island...
I believe it is you who needs to look at the whole picture.
Solar panels can last quite a long time, and I'm sure that when we are faced with a need to recycle solar panels, it won't be much of a problem. Being that, you know, you can be near them without getting cancer. - DeathJux, on 08/30/2008, -2/+2Exactly.
I'm a big fat-cat investor with far more money than sense, someone PLEASE show me where I can funnel my millions!! - superkendall, on 08/30/2008, -4/+4It has potential but it sure has the feel of a bubble forming.
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http://www.chat-3rb.com - inactive, on 08/30/2008, -1/+1I clicked on her, probably his profile, and instead of giving you an "I", I will give you a thumbs up. =]
- jake1986, on 08/31/2008, -1/+1$400 M = $400,000 not $400,000,000
Why don't more people know this? - l3oo, on 08/30/2008, -2/+2Since manufacturing solar panels requires huge amounts of toxic solvents, where do the solvents end up?
And where will the thousands of acres of old obsolete solar panels end up? In land fills? There currently is no means of recycling solar panels.
I'm glad there is being $$ spent on solar as it has huge potential....but you have to look at the WHOLE PICTURE to see if the solar industry is truly "green". At this point, nuclear energy is by far the greenest. It produces the cheapest energy on a per kwh basis and produces the least amount of waste per kwh...... - no1digger, on 08/30/2008, -2/+2Only 22 Billion? I guess that's a lot for only 7 years but it seems a bit low for something that can only become more important in the future.
- blujupiter, on 08/30/2008, -2/+1I've read where some analysts are predicting exactly that. There is a ton of money floating around right now that has nowhere to go. Get in early and get out in a few years...
- l3oo, on 08/30/2008, -2/+0Exactly right! If the product is going to end up in a landfill and never decompose, it's NOT green...Hopefully someone will develop a way to recycle solar panels as the technology is changing so fast, solar panels built today will be obsolete in 5 years.
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