Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way: Green Power and the US
Some of the best arguments against the US capping CO2 can be summed in a single word. These words are: India, China, Brazil and Indonesia. The long winded version of these arguments go something like this:
Even if the US and Europe cut emissions by 100% there are still 3+ billion people, half the world living in the in those countries and they are increasing their CO2 at a stagering pace. The cost of “green energy” is so much higher than carbon based energy that these and other developing countries will chose the cheaper carbon choice.
So, what can be done about this? Should we subsidize these developing countries so they go with green power? Should we give up? The short answer is that we (North America, Europe, Japan, Korea) need to push for deployment and development of wind, sun and hydropower solutions at home, now. We need to help reduce the cost of these technologies, by supporting this young industry.
Yes, the old rules of the marketplace work here, the more solar and wind generation is deployed, the faster the cost of these power sources decline. The early affect of Germany’s efforts to encourage solar and wind power has helped to both reduce the cost of solar panels and wind turbines with increased the demand for these technologies. Much in the way that VCRs, PCs, microchips and Flat Panels have dropped in pricing as a result of increased demand and sales, economies of scale and competition, solar and wind technologies have followed that model. When the cost of these new technologies create power for less than the cost of fossil fuels, we’ll see developing countries choose green.
So if you want to keep the developing world from building 1000s of fossil fuel power plants, tens of millions of gas powered vehicles and 100s of millions of carbon burning homes, it’s best to encourage the developed world to increase the speed of green energy deployments here. Let’s hope the US either leads the way, or follows germany’s lead. Fortunately with the exit of the Bush administration, the US has gotten out of the way.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:00 am
According to this article: http://www.solarpanelmanual.com/
“Various countries are already providing financial incentives to those who go solar, and more countries are soon to follow.”
Does anyone if this goes for the US as well and how much we’re talking about?
November 24th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
There is a 30% tax Credit in the US, with no limit (for 2009). That’s a 30% rebate from the government for putting in renewable power into your home. The tax credit is not calculated/effected by AMT calculation and is paid out if the credit exceeds your taxes for that year.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I just saw the news bit about how China is beating the U.S. in terms of cutting back on emissions. I think this is a great start seeing how China is one of the most polluted countries in the world. Much worse than the U.S. but most people don’t realize this. You have to visit China just to see how much worse it is. If only India would follow!
January 7th, 2010 at 2:13 am
The cost of green energy be it cheap or not,is the more future proof way to go.People need to start looking at the big picture.Where will we be in the next 50 years if we keep destroying our planet like this.Some times I just sit and imagine….