Comments on: Feinstein Argues Against Mojave Desert Solar Power Plans

By: whadda we got left? - US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum

whadda we got left? - US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:00:33 +0000

[...] got solar. Oh, wait a second: Feinstein Argues Against Mojave Desert Solar Power Plans – Red, Green, and Blue __________________ The abandonment of individualism, (market) liberalism, and freedom inevitably [...]

By: Jake F.

Jake F. — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:25:28 +0000

What better place for a solar plant than the desert?

By: j-wild

j-wild — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:14:54 +0000

Mojave Desert in particular stores as much carbon as some temperate forests. Scraping the ground cover, including microbiotic crusts, would remove this function of the desert as a carbon sink, offsetting to some (currently unknown) extent the geenhouse gas reductions provided by the solar power project.

Concentrating solar power plants also use vast quantities of water when they are “wet-cooled,” somewhere in the range of two million or more gallons per megawatt per year. One 280-megawatt plant proposed in Arizona is projected to use 600 to 700 million gallons (1900 acre-feet) each year. Where will that water come from?

Many of the proposed concentrating solar power plants would be sited far from existing transmission, adding greatly to the cost and environmental impact of this form of solar power when new transmission lines are factored in.

All of these impacts, and more, should be thoroughly considered before pushing ahead with any solar project. Yet the Governor and the concentrating solar industry have been pushing to relax environmental review, because these projects are viewed as de facto green.

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:03:08 +0000

I could not believe that there is so much ignorance in this world. Someonne used the words "inhabitable desert". I have a place in the high desert and am amazed at the life I encounter every weekend. What beauty you find away from all the concrete. There are lots of alternatives to using these areas and destoying these protected lands.

By: jacob

jacob — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:59:12 +0000

I feel this claim is ridiculous considering our alternatives, can we please allow some sort of progress towards a greener planet and energy independence? certainly this is preferable to foreign wars, oil spills and the greenhouse effect? I say hell yes for solar alternatives in the barely inhabitable desert, sacrifices must be made in big ways and I believe over time we can get better at even this macro level, for now we must press forward gung ho into encouraging/enabling industry giants to convert to 100% renewables

By: Ellyse Adele Vitiell

Ellyse Adele Vitiell — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:51:10 +0000

Dear Alex, would a petition to Feinstein encouraging Mojave Desert Solar Power plans be useful? Could you set up a petition? (like the one at http://www.nirs.org/petition2) which argues against the old nuclear reactors, dangerous, inefficient, and requiring subsidies) So far that petition has 10,534 signatures.

Thanks, EAV

By: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-28 | ecopolitology

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-28 | ecopolitology — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:15:34 +0000

[...] Argues Against Mojave Desert Solar Power Plans http://redgreenandblue.org/?p=2799 [...]

By: hsr0601

hsr0601 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:06:22 +0000

I guess the notion of conservation need to adjust to the changed time.

By: AVE_fan

AVE_fan — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:29:12 +0000

Your are wrong about the abundance of renewable energy. Aproximately 12,000 TW of energy (6000 times what man uses) is dissipated in the troposphere each day in the form of updrafts (aka vertical winds). The active form is called CAPE–Convective Available Potential Energy (see http://www.tornadochaser.net/capeclass/)

A device (Atmospheric Vortex Engine) for harvesting this as electricity is described at http://vortexengine.ca Note: this is REAL Stored in the air resulting from the sun's heating, it is NOT fictitious Zero-Point energy

By: hsr0601

hsr0601 — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:13:22 +0000

It s a shame that the ratio of renewable energy in the U.S. is negligible, below 2 percent,