Solar could be 40% of U.S. power by 2035 -Biden administration

[AZProgressive]

Aug 17 (Reuters) - Solar could supply more than 40% of the nation's electricity by 2035 - up from 3% today - if Congress adopts policies like tax credits for renewable energy projects and component factories, according to a memo published on Tuesday by the Department of Energy.

The memo is part of a push by the White House to pump up solar as a jobs engine and pivotal pillar in the climate change agenda of President Joe Biden.

The sector is also taking center stage as officials plug the administration's legislative priorities on the road, with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh touring a new First Solar Inc (FSLR.O) facility in Ohio on Tuesday that is expected to create about 500 jobs.

To propel solar to nearly half of U.S. generation, the industry needs to grow at three or four times its current rate, creating up to 1.5 million jobs, according to an unpublished analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory cited in the memo.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/solar-could-be-40-us-power-by-2035-biden-administration-2021-08-17/?taid=611bd27beb33530001737c4e&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[Champp]

1. "Not if we can help it." - Oily Republicans

[Aristus]

2. God, fossil fuel companies are just the stupidest!

They could probably purchase solar energy companies for a lot less than they are paying to lobby Congress to perpetuate fossil fuel consumption.

Why can't these hammerheads think ahead to when the oil runs out, or at least becomes too expensive to extract to be profitable? If I was an oil CEO, I'd be buying up solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal energy companies right and left.

[Calculating]

13. Because there's no continued revenue stream with solar

With oil, people constantly keep needing to buy more of it from you. With solar they buy the panels and they're set for 20+ years. It's the same reason why big pharma is more interested in lifelong treatments than cures.

[mopinko]

3. i'm waiting w bated breath here to see what's in the package.

i just did my house, but i have a couple rental properties that i'm waiting to do.
one i just flipped the system to elec so i could power it w solar. now i need the solar.

just need dates, guys. dont even care that much how much money it is.
i'm here to get w the program.

[Texaswitchy]

4. Some utilities companies help with the cost of solar.

Tax credits maybe.

We should already be at that goal and then some.

[mopinko]

6. yeah, i got a decent deal last time.

state, fed and comed credits paid almost half.

[Texaswitchy]

7. We did that.

Put on a new roof and put up solar.

Pays for itself.

[mopinko]

8. esp in a rental when it becomes- heat and air paid.

[Texaswitchy]

9. Yes

I love our solar.

[mopinko]

10. esp since it didnt used to have air.

which is not common in buildings that age.

[Texaswitchy]

12. We had the old house rewired.

All new windows, and insulated.

Tight house now.

Not to big a house.

The trick is to get enough solar to cover your needs.

We have enough.

Energy efficient appliances.

[hunter]

5. Solar and wind are the best thing that ever happened to the natural gas industry.

Alas there's enough natural gas in the ground to destroy the world as we know it.

40% isn't good enough. It's not even close.

We are so fucked.

[Elessar Zappa]

17. We need to immediately start building nuclear reactors.

I know a lot of liberals will disagree with me but nuclear is a big part of the solution, imo.

[hunter]

20. Nuclear power is the only energy source capable of displacing fossil fuels entirely.

The human race has worked itself into a corner. Solar and wind energy schemes cannot support a human population that's approaching 8 billion. Most of us are entirely dependent upon the high energy industrial world economy, most especially the affluent people.

Renewable energy schemes in places like California, Denmark, and Germany have failed.

It's especially bad in Germany. Germany is becoming increasingly dependent on Russian natural gas.

The problem with hybrid wind-solar-gas systems is that they work and they can be profitable.

Alas, whenever the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing, usually more than half the time, natural gas can fill in the gaps.

Unfortunately as more and more of the world adopts similar falsely claimed "green" technologies even more gas will be burned, and the world is still fucked.

The most boring conventional nuclear power plants now under construction, some of them beset by delays and cost overruns, are still better than any of the alternatives, including the hybrid wind/solar/gas alternatives.

And ultimately much of the lightly used fuel from the conventional pressurized water reactors won't end up as nuclear waste that needs to be stored away for thousands of years, rather it will be reprocessed as fuel for more sophisticated twenty-first century reactor designs.

The only thing scarier than nuclear power is fossil fuels.

Anyone who has ever filled a car with gasoline or cooked with gas doesn't have any intuitive fear of fossil fuels, humankind's relationship with fire is old, but they ought to.

[cinematicdiversions]

11. Finland is on its way to 100% free greenhouse gasses in 2022. Perhaps we should look into that.

I don't think we have till 2035 to take care of less than half. This is embarrassing. We need to put on our big girl pants are start using what works today.

[StevieM]

14. Without nuclear power we are not going to solve the climate crisis. (eom)

[dsp3000]

16. Yep. You want job creation, and green jobs? Nuclear is huge

[NotASurfer]

15. How much can we do by conservation?

I don't see a lot of play on that angle. I mean, how fast could we do things to reduce power consumption by 20%, and how much fossil fuel would be left in the ground with its carbon locked in relatively stable geological formations?

[Klaralven]

18. Investing in a Clean Energy Future: Solar Energy Research, Deployment, and Workforce Priorities

https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/investing-in-a-clean-energy-future-solar-energy.pdf

[RANDYWILDMAN]

19. They just put up our panels today !

can't wait to get them going