[ExI] Small scale solar payback time (was Re: Planetary defense)

[Kelly Anderson]

On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 10:31 PM, Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 1:21 PM, Kelly Anderson <kellycoinguy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> snip
>
>> The real trick for today's energy companies it to make sure that they
>> are also tomorrow's energy companies. They also need to not drain
>> their customers so dry that demand goes down.
>
> That's not the biggest problem.

I don't think I said that it was the BIGGEST... just one problem  :-)

> The big problem is that there is no
> accepted way to make energy from sunlight for less than it cost to
> mine oil out of the ground.

That problem would be mitigated (but perhaps not entirely avoided) if
the collateral costs of oil were paid for at the pump and not through
other means such as income taxation. I think I already posted this
thesis... quick review pay for carbon dioxide sequestration or
mitigation at the pump, pay for oil wars and terrorism expenses at the
pump, etc. This would make gas more expensive, and bring closer the
day when alternatives had a competitive cost.

> I work on that as you might know.

To be clear, do you work in the oil industry or on solar projects?

-Kelly