The Republican Party and their oil industry supporters don’t want you to know this!

From the Energy Information Aministration: and for the full story:Renewable Energy is Already Cheap
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The “Total System Levelized Cost” is what the Department of Energy uses to assess the cost of different energy sources.  It represents the long term price adjusted for time value, since money now is worth more than money later.  According to that metric, coal is still cheaper than solar and wind (although wind is very close).

However, the operating and maintenance (O&M) cost of wind and solar PV is actually much lower than coal- less than half!  It’s the start-up cost which drives up their price, but once they’re built, they don’t need to pay for any fuel.  Most of the actual cost of wind and solar plants is actually just interest on the loans that they use to set up the plants.  This means it’s not really the plants themselves which are expensive- it’s their financing.  And since many of the companies that invest in renewable energy are brand new start-ups with no credit history, they’re stuck paying high interest too.

This suggests an obvious policy solution- more government grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy.  This would lower their interest, reducing the cost of servicing the bonds and therefore drop the adjusted price of renewable energy plants closer to their operating cost. At that point, we can have the best of both worlds- energy which is both cheaper and less polluting than coal or gas.

Of course, this would require a congress which isn’t completely corrupted by the fossil fuel industry, but we can dream.

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(image from Stephen Leahy)

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Hapa Haole Music Break on Wednesday

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Servicio Social, factor fundamental de las universidades

libertad-oaxaca.info - La Dirección de Servicio Social de la Universidad Autónoma “Benito Juárez” de Oaxaca (UABJO), colabora con instituciones, poblaciones, organizaciones y dependencias, manteniendo firme su compromiso…

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Was New York Times’ Ethan Bronner duped by an Israeli Facebook fraud?

electronicintifada.net - RAMALLAH, West Bank – Moad Arqoub, a Palestinian graduate student, was bouncing around the Internet the other day and came across a site that surprised and attracted him. It was a Facebook page whe…

avinunu

Could life imitate art on the BSkyB takeover?

blogs.channel4.com - Sunday 10 July 2011 10:47 am Hugh Grant’s presence in this debate makes for hilarious confusion – we all know what he’d do if the David he played in Love Actually was PM. He wouldn’t just block Jam…

June4th

London to Hold Emergency Protest of the Bombing of Libya » natocrimes.com

natocrimes.com - Britain and the USA have bombed Libya with more than one hundred Tomahawk cruise missiles. These are not precision guided weapons but weapons of mass destruction that will create many civilian casu…

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John Boehner Wants To Scale Down Debt Talks

thinkprogress.org - The collapse of negotiations around $4 trillion in debt reduction and House Speaker John Boehner’s preference to scale the scope of discussion back to $2 trillion in hopes that will somehow generat…

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Worst Drought in More Than a Century Threatens Texas Oil, Natural Gas Boom

Headlines for June 13, 2011

democracynow.org - FBI Grants Agents Increased Freedom To Investigate Without Firm EvidenceThe New York Times is reporting the FBI is giving its agents new leeway to infiltrate organizations, search household trash, …

democracynow

Worst Drought in More Than a Century Threatens Texas Oil, Natural Gas Boom

bloomberg.com - The worst Texas drought since record-keeping began 116 years ago may crimp an oil and natural- gas drilling boom as government officials ration water supplies crucial to energy exploration. In the …

americanrivers

Earn Money for College with the Sprout Savvy Eco-Friendly Scholarship — BOCA RATON, Fla., June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –

prnewswire.com -     BOCA RATON, Fla., June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Sprout Savvy announced the kick off of to its Sprout Savvy Eco-Friendly Scholarship opportunity. College students have the chance to win the scho…

GreenEnergyNews

Koch Brothers Led Fight to Defend Formaldehyde Despite Carcinogenic Evidence

democracynow.org - Web Exclusive The 2011 U.N. High-Level meeting on AIDS kicked off on Wednesday, June 8, in New York, with more than 30 world leaders attending to discuss the progress and future of the global AIDS …

democracynow

Rockies snowpack level in severest decline in a millennium

grist.org - Although all of that water flooding into the Midwest is coming from record snowpack in the Rockies, in the long term, snow pack levels in the mountain range have been decreasing since the 1980s. Th…

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Discover Your Roots

Discover Your Roots

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    Your Genealogy

    Everyone on Earth is ultimately part of the same human family. Take what you know of your branch and discover more than you ever thought possible.

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    Genetics

    Learn about what’s passed on from generation to generation with an interactive look at DNA.

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NYC Wildflower week

nycwildflowerweek.org - Most NYCWW events are free and open to the public. Space is limited for certain events, so advance registration is encouraged.   BROOKLYNTHE HOW DO YOU GROW? SHOWTime: Saturday, May 7, 11:00 am – 1…


NYCWW
thenation.com - As nationwide budget protests continue this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is prepared to unveil the Obama administration’s plan to lower the top corporate tax rate from the current 35 p…


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democracynow.org - Eight years to the day after then-President George W. Bush strode onto the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln under a banner announcing “Mission Accomplished,” President Barack Obama, without…


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eco-chick.com - Have a look around you. Chances are you’re surrounded by plastic — the subject of San Francisco science writer Susan Freinkel’s new book, “Plastic: A Toxic Love Story.” We love to hate plastic, and…


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Contaminants in whale meat and blubber weaken childhood immunizations: public health expert

democracynow.org - Obama Urged To Rethink Pakistan Following Assassination of Bin LadenCalls are mounting on Capitol Hill for the Obama administration to rethink its backing of Pakistan following the killing of Osama…


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blogtalkradio.com - In Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, internationally recognized biologist Sandra Steingraber reflects on how caring for her own family led her to tough real…


TheOrganicView
nycwildflowerweek.org - Most NYCWW events are free and open to the public. Space is limited for certain events, so advance registration is encouraged. For a chance to see more plants up close and personal through October,…


NYCWW
nunatsiaqonline.ca - NEWS: Around the Arctic May 02, 2011 – 11:00 pmJANE GEORGEPál Weihe, a doctor in the Faroe Islands, shown here at the bottom right, has hunted pilot whales, but now he’s told his fellow Faroese not…


CetaceanSociety
planetgreen.discovery.com - High food prices are becoming a part of our lives this year. From political flare ups to very strange weather, the costs of some of our favorite foods are nearly out of reach. It turns out your mor…


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“It’s time to resort to the most proven rebranding tool in all of human history.”

10 coolest solar power projects

Posted Apr 16th, 2011 at 4:22 PM and seen 21706 times

With a certain segment of the population pushing back against the use of solar power, perhaps it’s time to resort to the most proven rebranding tool in all of human history: “All the cool kids are doing it!” Here are ten uses of solar power to take the renewable resource out of Birkenstocks and into the mainstream.

Solar powered desert structure

This cool structure not only generates enough power to keep the lights on in a local community but also provides a welcome respite from the hot desert rays.

Solar powered stadium

What could be cooler than sports? The 50,000-seat venue in Taiwan generates all of its own power through 8,844 solar panels.

Solar powered plane

Able to leap multiple continents in a single bound, the Solar Impulse (which, yes, can fly at night) has a round-the-world journey in its sights once testing is complete.

Solar trash cans

Okay, so maybe garbage cans aren’t cool per se, but these compactors reduce “operating costs, fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with garbage collection by up to 80%.” Shape them into trash monsters, though, and – bam! – you’ve got cool.

Full story at Buzzfeed. and thenkyew to the folks at ALLTOP

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UN resolution looks to give “Mother Earth” same rights as humans

greenpeace.org - Last month, a group of Greenpeace volunteers in Denver trekked to over 30 Colorado supermarkets to investigate the sustainability of the seafood being sold inside. Armed with an “endangered fish ch…


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nationalpost.com - UNITED NATIONS — Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving “Mother Earth” the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees a…


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blogs.nature.com - This morning, the Japanese government officially upgraded Fukushima on the International Nuclear Events Scale to a 7, or “Major accident”. The new rating is the highest on the scale, and puts Fukus…


InvasiveNotes
democracynow.org - Web Exclusive Egyptian American engineer Mohamed Radwan was arrested in Syria on March 25 and released April 1. Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat interviewed him in his family’s home in Cai…


democracynow
blogs.nature.com - Novartis is paying out at least $5 million to get into the cannabinoid arena by linking up with UK company GW Pharmaceuticals.GW, which specialises in cannabis-derived drugs, will get $5 million up…


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Parrots in Danger : Parrots in the Land of Oz

pbs.org - Beautiful, elegant, and intelligent, parrots have long been coveted and caged by humans. With over 340 species living in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceana tropic zones, our world should be bri…
 


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treehugger.com - During the disaster itself some 115 whales and dolphins were reported dead by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. In the past few months over 80 baby dolphins have been found washed up dead in the Gulf…
 


dolphincode
greenbiz.com - Pity the shopper who wants to buy “green” paper or forest products. They can choose products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). Only …
 


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