What do you think about Green Energy?

Wind mills?

Solar Power?

Power from water?

Thanks for your Ideas!

Green energy is our only option for a good future. The world as we know it was built on cheap fossil fuels. We have not hit peak oil or will hit it soon. Prices are only going to go up. If we don’t replace it with something sustainable we’re going to find a recession like we’ve never seen before.

As for specific green energies:

- Wind: It’s great for now as it’s the cheapest option and the easiest to get going. Yes, it may interfere with some birds (that may not be the case with newer, slower windmills) but I assure you that the Alberta oil sands do much, much worse. The downside of wind is that the geographic distribution is quite limited.

- Solar: This is ultimately the energy of the future. The sun shines everywhere in the world (although to different degrees). As solar gets cheaper it’s going to be economic to deploy it everywhere. Solar is also the only energy that is truly renewable (at least for the next 5 billion years).

- Power from water: If you’re referring to usually the actual water atoms for energy, it’s impossible. If you’re referring to hydro and tidal, then this is what I say: Not a viable future energy source. At this point in time we’ve pretty much maxed out our hydro resources. Add to it the fact the hydro destroys ecosystems and that recent research has shown it to release tons of CO2 (by promoting the rotting of forests), and hydro doesn’t look that good. Good tidal sites simply aren’t available in great enough numbers to have any impact.

As to what another poster said about environmentalists blocking nuclear and natural gas: Nuclear is blocked for good reason. Nuclear is disgustingly expensive and it’s hardly "green". The mining of uranium is hugely destructive, and the production of nuclear energy creates millions of gallons of water that are no longer useable. Of course, there’s also the issue of spent fuel. We can burry it in the mountains? Oh wait, it’s been 30 years, hundreds of billions of dollars, and there’s still no completion in sight for the Yucatan storage facility.

As for natural gas, it’s still a fossil fuel. Ultimately it too will become scarce, and ultimately it does produce pollution (albeit much less than coal or oil). I will concede that solar and wind do need some form of backup. In the near future the best option we have IS natural gas - it’s flexible and the best of the bad options we have. Ultimately though, we should transition to using hydrogen fuel (generated by solar and wind) to provide the stability the grid needs.

i am a student studying law and business (finance) who would like to work in green energy and other areas involved with renewable energy and sustainability. can anyone think of any jobs that i could get involved in within the green energy industry that have a finance focus. i was thinking something along the lines of venture capital, advisory, and consulting. can anyone provide me with a rough career guideline on how to get into this sort of work.

I don’t see that your selected majors would be of any particular benefit to "green companies" any more than to any other company - finance majors don’t usually get jobs in companies of smaller than $100mill/yr in sales - my company is in the construction related field and we do $70-80mill a yr and have no need for a finance or law person - I’m the Controller and myself and the CFO handle all the data analysis

no one becomes a consultant in any field without a lot of years of work experience in that field - how can you advise anyone on anything if you haven’t done it a 100 or 100 times already?

Hi,

I want to buy a town house in Bay area (San Jose, SFO). But my question is can we install solar panels on my roof?

Is it allowed? Or roof is part of HOA maintenance program? What is the law states here?

Is a single family home is the only way to install solar panels?

Thanks for your help.
UPDATED QUESTION:

Can i install on my backyard at least?

Look up AB2473 - The California Solar Rights Act. That removed most of the barriers to installing solar on any property you own. If you had a detached home, even in a gated community with a homeowner’s association, you have a good chance of getting solar even if the HOA doesn’t like it.

The problem with a townhome is that you don’t own the roof. Before you buy, have a cordial conversation with the president of the HOA, to get an idea of how they feel about this sort of thing. If they don’t like it, I wouldn’t fight. Even if you win legally, your neighbors will give you dirty looks for being a troublemaker. But you might be surprised. This IS the bay area, after all, pretty liberal.

How much does solar energy cost, using pounds, in the Uk? How much does it cost to set up and does it cause a lot of hassle?
Peter J I know its expensive, I want an actual figure!
No best answer!

The energy costs nothing. The equipment required to make it go, is really expensive. The equipment required to make it practical is obscenely expensive.

We have tons of coastal area. Why not harvest the tides and get our energy that way. That way the money would go to people here.
Its energy that looks green……no, if your serious its energy that comes from nature and not the remains of million year old decayed animals……
Keerok, you wouldn’t have to convert it, just use batteries and whatnot. Electricity is electricity. We get ours from power lines. All you have to do is hook it up to the green power plants. Oil electricity is the same thing as green electricity.

Actually most of our oil comes from Canada, believe it or not. I guess we do that because we want the last reserves. They have made changes to go green, but the oil companies have them all bogged down. The last President who tried that was none other than Jimmy Carter, and it was political suicide. Now that people are more aware, we will make an effort to go green.

Looking at getting solar panels for house whole energy savings and to have a green element to my way of life. But my concern is that I think they have a limited shelf life of 10 years is this true? It’s such a large out lay for only 10 years of use. Could I be wrong?

Solar panels are warranted for 25 years. Generally, companies warranty for half the product’s expected life span, so they expect 50 years from them. We can’t tell for sure how long panels will last, because the first ones made are still working.

If you have a solar system with battery backup, the batteries do have less than a 10 year lifespan. But 80% of solar installations are straight to the electric grid with no batteries.

If you are looking for a good return on investment, look into solar water heating. It’s a much bigger bang for the buck for saving energy. Let the sun heat the water instead of the dirty fuels.

Which side of the building would I put them on and what part of the roof? The apex?

It’s not that easy. Generally the placement maximizes sun exposure while minimizing hazards, threats, and expense:
* South facing in the northern hemisphere, angled upward from level approximately by the installation’s latitude. At the equator, they can lay flat. At the north pole, vertical.
* Away from chimneys, flue vents, overhanging trees, etc.
* Minimize strong wind exposure—or at least decrease deleterious effects of strong winds being able to uplift or remove the panels.
* Reasonably convenient maintenance access

They need not sit directly on the roof—called "flush mount". Usually either a lattice-style frame or a tower is mounted to the roof or ground and the panels are mounted on it. See these examples:
* http://www.wdtrade.com/showroom/tradelead/1073207/Swimming_Pool_Solar_Heater_Compact_Solar_Heaters_Solar_Energy_Power.aspx
* http://www.solar-electric.com/PV_Mounts/Solar_Panel_Mounts.htm
* http://www.solazone.com.au/frames.htm
* http://www.wirefreedirect.com/solar_panel_pv_mounting_frames_and_accessories.asp

Also there are "tracker" systems which face the panel toward the sun based on the time of day and day of year.

im doing a project for economics and i have to find out how economics & solar energy are tied together.

One has to consider the economics of using solar energy. If you want to install solar panels on the roof of your home, to produce electricity, you have to figure the costs involved.

Determine the cost of installing the panel and how long it is expected to last. Figure out how much electricity the panel will generate. Subtract that amount from your normal electric usage. Then figure out the savings over the life of the panel to see if the original expense is worth it or not.

If you live in northeastern Arizona and pay top dollar for electricity, it might pay to have solar panels. They have sunshine for 325 days a year.

what are some of the bad effects of having green energy policies for one and another thing is where can I find some statistics of how expensive green energy changes would be?

Renewable energy sources have environmental impacts of their own.

Hydroelectric dams create lakes that change the natural environment and cover up heritage sites while making it more difficult for fish to breed.

Windmills are an eyesore and cause significant deaths to birds.

All of these are cons, but they are all containable and have options to get around them.

Also where I can inquire here in the Philippines (NCR) about the installation of Solar Power Energy?

I came accross a new, proven and tested home made wind power system and solar power system which eliminates our electricity bills. It was written by a Renewable energy enthusiasts Michael Harvey the diy called Earth4energy. You can get your copy to save energy and help environment while eliminating your power bills. Get it from here:

http://how-to-build-cheap-solar-energy.blogspot.com/