[ExI] pentagon wants orbiting solar power stations

[BillK]

On 10/15/07, John K Clark wrote:
> Yes, and people could ride to work right now on solar electrical scooters,
> but they don't; even in the third world a bicycle is preferred. People will
> never want to ride to work on slow, uncomfortable, inconvenient, and
> dangerous machines unless there was absolutely no alternative. There will
> always be alternatives.
>

See: <http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6212734.html?tag=nl.e622>
China 'e' bikes silently drive lead demand.
Quote:
China produced 19 million battery driven bikes in 2006, and that
figure could rise by 30 percent this year, said Zhang Changhai, lead
analyst with metals consultancy Antaike in Beijing.


>
> It means finding a way to make to make PV panels that are dirt cheap, it
> means PV panels that are so efficient and so durable that they produce
> more energy over their lifetime than it took to make them, and it means
> figuring out what to do at night or on cloudy days. It means your use of
> the word "just" may not be entirely accurate.
>

Yup. PV panels are still too expensive. But the price is coming down.
And home windmills help too.
(If the neighbours or zoning regs don't complain).


BillK