Comment Log Display
Below is the comment you selected to display.
Comment 6 for Energy Comments for the GHG Scoping Plan (sp-energy-ws) - 1st Workshop.
First Name: Thomas
Last Name: Bleakney
Email Address: tbleakne@keyway.net
Affiliation:
Subject: Urgency, Solar Electric accounting
Comment:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in your solicitation of public comment on July 8 in Diamond Bar. I was speaker #34. My main point: I feel the plan does not go far enough to communicate the urgency of climate change and the sacrifice that the public will need to endure to eventually solve the problem. I have one additional specific suggestion concerning what should be the proper accounting for solar electric installations. Recent careful studies (I believe in Arizona) show that, with current technology, it takes at least 3 years of operation of a solar electric array to pay back the energy required for the manufacture of that array. For areas of the state subject to frequent clouds, this time would be longer. This price is tolerable because the array should last for at least two decades. However, since the solar electric industry is growing in size about 30%/year, essentially all the power being generated from this source is being absorbed by the manufacturer of more solar arrays. Thus on a global basis, solar electric will only start to make a net contribution to the substitution of fossil fuels when either the solar cell technology changes or the growth curve becomes linear instead of exponential. Improvements in technology are very likely but not guaranteed, but eventually the growth curve will slow. In the meantime, however, I submit that some kind of correction factor needs to be used in counting growth in solar electric installations as part of the state's carbon-free credits. At the very least, perhaps you should introduce a 3-year lag between when a solar array goes online and when you begin to count its energy contribution. My source for this information, as well as the overall urgency of the problem, is an excellent lecture by Dr. Nate Lewis, professor of chemistry at Caltech. I strongly urge that one or more of your staff view the recording of this lecture, given at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Feb 28, 2008 at web address: http://realserver1.jpl.nasa.gov:8080/ramgen/vod/av/2008/vk-lect/080228-vkl-WhereintheWorldWillOurEnergyComeFrom-AVC-2008-038.rv If the above link is garbled, you can find in on web page: http://jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures/feb08.cfm Thank you. Thomas Bleakney M.S. Physics Claremont, CA
Attachment:
Original File Name:
Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2008-07-13 15:25:14
If you have any questions or comments please contact Office of the Ombudsman at (916) 327-1266.