An interesting infographic helps illustrate the need to reform America’s energy plan. Americans paid seventy two times more to subsidize fossil fuels in the last five years than solar. If solar (and presumably wind) had received the same taxpayer investment, renewable energy would be cheaper than coal said to be peaking within twenty years. Imagine if the average ratepayer, instead of importing power and exporting dollars, kept his energy dollars local and used that extra money to buy local foods and products.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to chat with Bill Bradbury who agrees that decentralizing power generation is the future if not inevitable. Even big solar is a bad idea and not just because of the enormous footprint required for generation and transmission or the losses associated with that transmission. Centralized solar perpetuates the control of energy production into the hands of the very few that can afford to build giant concentrated solar plants. Decentralizing allows for a more diverse and tailored approach to energy.
A decentralized solar strategy provides market space for lots of technologies to compete directly, without the generally anti-competitive nature of big monolithic construction contracts crowding out the small players. In the short run, this will provide more opportunities for small businesses to grow. In the long run, this enriched competition will produce a more efficient and refined product.
Again. Imagine if the millions of dollars exported out of Coos County every year on electricity suddenly stayed put and were reinvested locally. Think of the jobs that would produce.
