This is the question the US will be asking in the next 10 to 20 years. Clearly these forms of “sustainable energy” are completely unsustainable without massive amounts of government subsidies. But with annual budget deficits of over a trillion dollars as far as the eye can see, these subsidies themselves are unsustainable. The spigot will have to be shut off (can you say green energy bubble?). When it is, something will have to be done with all those rusting solar panels and wind turbines. We should take a lesson from Spain, who has been way ahead of us when it comes to the business of wasting money on unsustainable sustainable energy. Here’s a glimpse of our future:
Spain’s subsidies for solar were four to six times higher than those for wind. Prices charged for solar power were 12 times higher than those for fossil fuel electricity. Germany and Spain received about 75 percent of the world’s photovoltaic panel installations that year.
Suddenly facing a deep recession, a collapsing housing market and a ballooning budget deficit, the Spanish government cut the rate paid for photovoltaic power by about 29 percent last year and put a limit on new solar installations at 500 megawatts per year. It is now considering additional tariff cuts that may reach as high as 40 percent and may even be applied retroactively, according to local newspaper reports.
This is from today’s Environment and Energy Daily. Here’s the link but unfortunately a password is needed to read the entire article.
