Friday September 5, 2008, 12:57 pm
Yes! and Thank You very much,Tom!

Friday September 5, 2008, 2:36 pm
Noted, and a question, could someone tell me if fossil fuels or crude are needed in anyway to manufacture solar panels, including the heat needed to process the glass type covering. Then there is all the little attachments inside, the metal, the plastic, absolutely everything in there does not use fossil fuel to manufacture?????????? The same thing goes for windmills, wave machines, etc. Or do we need to drill offshore to gain product to build all this with metal, glass, wiring, plastic??????

Friday September 5, 2008, 4:01 pm
This is great. Noted with thanks Tom.

Friday September 5, 2008, 7:21 pm
Solar is part of the green solution, no doubt. Thx Tom!

Friday September 5, 2008, 8:21 pm
Black - I think presently all of those components are, for the most part, manufactured using fossil fuels (not sure of all the materials themselves though)...Fossil fuels are also used in the transportation of components, and then in the instalation - agin for the most part. However, the same could be said for all the components of a fossil fuel (be it oil, gas, or coal)plants too, so solar is RELATIVELY clean, but probably seldom "perfect"...needing some ossil fuel inputs...

Friday September 5, 2008, 10:56 pm
I agree solar has a place in the green scheme of things but there is going to have to be a really huge price drop in these alternative green fuels or no one can afford to buy them. This market is just like the organic food market. It's a ripe off. Why is an organic carrot 3 times the price of a non organic carrot? Answer is because some people will pay it. The cost of much of this "green technology" is way out of reach for the average person, and average people on down make up the majority of this country. If only rich people can afford to use it, there won't be much of a dent in the fossil fuels usage.

Saturday September 6, 2008, 2:32 am
Thanks tom! I think we can do even more! The power of the sun is 8000 time the power that we need on this planet right now! We just did not find out how to get this SOLAR POWER in our SUV tanks.....But just wait and see how far we will get if we realy go for it! I am glad and proud that Europe will be leading this new renewable energy research!
Germany is doing great with allmost 20% renewable energy right now and not in 2020 like many countries have scheduled! Its funny that Holland did not continue to use windpower the way they did for centuries just because they have found Gas!
As long as we do not search for ways to use solar power much more efficient we will not find them....The latest developments will have a huge impact and make solar energy affordable....If BIG OIL will continue to cash on oil the way they do now this process will speed up! The OIL PRICE IS THE BEST GREEN TURBO! No tax credit can do what this high oil price does...MAKE YOU SAVE ENERGY! Wear a sweater at home and turn the temperature down....Open your mind to a new green way of life!


The future renewable energy sources Directive at EU level is expected to reinforce the current legal framework and could facilitate the implementation of the feed-in tariff scheme throughout Europe. "The ball is now in the hands of European decision-makers who can take the opportunity this new Directive presents to show Europe's leadership in the development of renewable energy sources," Macias concluded.

Saturday September 6, 2008, 6:54 am
While solar and wind energy are still imperfect, they are the cleanest potential we have and with time, investment and research, have the best probability of becoming very clean and green, the more something is used the cheaper it gets. I don't think we have a choice.

Saturday September 6, 2008, 2:22 pm
Solar recently achieved parity in Hawaii. Bear in mind that Hawaii is thousands of miles from the U.S., so shipping coal to the state means electricity costs twenty two cents per kwatt hour.

It will take a while before solar achieves parity elsewhere.

The main advantage of solar is the ability to produce power remotely.

Saturday September 6, 2008, 3:32 pm
"The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun". ~Ralph Nader, quoted in Linda Botts, ed., Loose Talk, 1980

Saturday September 6, 2008, 3:33 pm
I have no doubt that we will be successful in harnessing the sun's energy.... If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago. ~Sir George Porter, quoted in The Observer, 26 August 1973

Sunday September 7, 2008, 10:14 am
Will ther be 4 billion of us left to enjoy it?

Wednesday September 10, 2008, 2:17 pm
WAKE UP PEOPLE! AND Pay Attention!

WHY has it taken 30+ years for US to realize WE need to do something about this? I remember waiting in line for MILES to buy gas back in the 70's, on MY day, AND ONLY allowed to buy $5 worth! Too bad, so sad, IF I missed MY day, because I'd have to wait another day!

Yes, that was then and this is now, no doubt. I hope and pray that WE don't drop the ball AGAIN!