With more than 25 years of combined experience in professional sports between us, we know a thing or two about competition. Right now our state and our nation are deep in the throes of one of the most important competitions of our generation: the race to lead the new renewable energy economy. And without action from New York's lawmakers, the Empire State will see its chance at a solar championship slip away.
The stakes are high in this game. Winners will become home to vibrant hubs of new economic opportunity, local investment and job creation. America's solar power industry is already experiencing record-breaking growth. The Solar Energy Industries Association reports that U.S. solar market value expanded 67 percent to $6 billion and supported 100,000 jobs last year. Those are high quality U.S. jobs all across the solar supply chain from manufacturing and design to construction and operation.
And that's just the beginning of how solar means good business. Solar keeps energy dollars in-state by harnessing the power of the sun, a fuel source that is reliable, local and free. It delivers reliable electricity when and where we need it most without requiring expensive grid upgrades. It provides a predictable hedge against the volatile prices of natural gas and other fossil-based resources. It offsets the most polluting and pricey portion of New York's electricity mix, the peak generation used to power our air-conditioners running on these hot summer days. That mid-day solar power production reduces brownouts and offers welcome relief to business-as-usual energy spending that has given us some of the highest electricity rates in the country.
But it takes the right policies to build a strong local solar economy and reap those many benefits. Without leadership from our state capital, New York is going to see that opportunity for leadership slip through our grasp -- like a touchdown pass getting intercepted or a glove-grazing puck hitting the net.
Once one of the nation's top solar power markets, New York is already falling behind. Our neighbors in New Jersey added nearly seven times as much solar as New York did last year. The sun doesn't shine any brighter in the Garden State. Their workforce is not any more qualified for solar jobs. Their energy consumers aren't significantly more environmentally-inclined. It's state energy policy that has made all the difference. New Jersey made a clear, long-term policy commitment to solar power, letting the global renewable energy industry know that the state is open for business. And as a result, we are losing solar jobs and other benefits over our borders.
It's not too late for a comeback. Lawmakers in Albany are currently considering a new policy that would get New York back in the game. The bi-partisan New York Solar Jobs Act would develop enough safe, reliable solar to power 500,000 homes. Analysis from the non-profit grassroots group Vote Solar shows that it would support tens of thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars that could be reinvested in the Empire State's economy. It's a playbook for delivering economic, environmental and public health benefits tomorrow and for generations to come.
Lawmakers have just over a week left until the legislative session ends and they go home until 2012. New York cannot afford another year of sitting on the sidelines of our nation's growing solar economy. We are urging lawmakers to pass the New York Solar Jobs Act before the clock runs out.
Mike Richter is the all-time winningest goaltender for the New York Rangers, the team he played with for all 15 years of his National Hockey League career.
National Football League veteran Sage Rosenfels is a quarterback for the New York Giants.
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An average capacity factor of 10% for the US is better than you can expect with cleaning, shade and orientation issues.
1000 sq ft of commercially available panels on each of America's housold rooftops, would produce 12 kw peak or 1.2 kw average at a cost of $7 trillion , $60K per household producing .13 GW average or less than 5% of US energy needs.
Adding 710 GW or 7100 GW peak of solar panels to commercial buildings at a cost of $35000B would backrupt the nation yet provide 25% of US energy needs. That's ten years of the total US budget.
8.4 GW of constantly running gas backup would be required producing for more GHG's than the solar saves.
Rooftop solar PV is a silly dream designed too cover the stuffing of the gas sale pockets of Big Oil in exchange for campaign donations.
A full conversion of fossil to zero carbon zero environmental footprint nuclear is America's only option. We need to get started now.
Reservations required: 917-492-3395, mcny.org
PlaNYC 2030 says that solar power has the greatest potential to generate electricity for New York City, but new solar power designs often rarely make it past the design phase. What happens when new solutions are applied city-wide? Are there additional environmental benefits from scaling up innovative designs? What are the policy and real estate implications of making solar power a city-wide possibility? Moderator Hillary Brown, Professor of Architecture, CCNY, Tria Case, University Director of Sustainability for the City University of New York; Mark Harari, Sustainable Real Estate Solutions, Co-President, PhbCatalyst Group; Howard Slatkin, Director of Sustainability, NYC Department of City Planning; and Christian Volkmann, Professor of Architecture, CCNY and Team Manager, “Team New York” Solar Decathlon Entry; discuss the potential for the city's solar infrastructure, as well as an insider's look at the City College of New York Solar Decathlon Team—Team New York—and a sneak peak at their Solar Roof Pod.
1--> What state actinos do these two have in mind? Mandates for renewable energy (if so, what about higher electricity prices)? State funding (if so, how to square with NY's dire budget situation)?
2--> Where are the green jobs going to come from, and why will they stay? Spain is above 20% unemployment after trying to ride the green energy wave and losing 2 jobs for each one gained. Weatherization jobs are one-time deals that expire in a couple of years. Solar panels are price prohibitive without large subsidies. Where are the mystic green jobs?
3--> The authors refer to the "volitile price of natural gas and other fossil fuels." I assume they mean oil, because natural gas has been on a constant downward trend over the last decade, and doesn't seem to be in any danger of rising. Since solar doesn't power your car, I'm not sure that the cost of fossil fuels is really something a driver to switch to expensive solar energy.
2. As for your reference to Spain, it has been thoroughly debunked as well http://fund-balance.com/?p=576
3. And again, News Corp seems to disagree with your economic analysis, as they are building a 4.1 MW solar station at their Dow Jones campus in New Jersey. It will be the largest in the nation.
Lastly, energy prices will go up much worse and more quickly if renewables are not brought online quickly. And yes, in some cases, up-front costs will occur and have to factored in. The so-called free market will pass them on the customer. If we had a WPA type program nationally then at least those up-front costs would go to the working class whereby the money would be re-invested when they spend their wages at the grocery store.
I'm willing to entertain the notion that green jobs aren't quite so destructive as the Spanish experiment suggests (as noted by your link), but note that Spain has lost, on average, 2 jobs for each one in the green sector. What in the last ten years of Spanish labor could account for that, since their primary revenue source remains tourism? If we can't hold Spain as a test case, what else is there?
I will finally dispute your notion that energy prices must rise w/o renewables. The USA has as much proven oil reserves as it did in the 1970s, and far, far more in natural gas. Uranium reserves remain fairly constant. Why would you expect traditional energy costs to rise?
Really? Ever spend a winter in Buffalo? Or Rochester? Or Utica? Or Plattsburgh?
Del Webb didn't put "Sun City" in Western New York for a reason.... you had better not focus on solar power in New York.... but come up with something that can draw energy from grey cloudy days and you might have something.
Not unless your peak demand period is the middle of the day.
In reality peak demand is usually late in the afternoon or early in the evening when people return home from work. Solar energy production is declining at that time of the day. Today there is no economically feasible way to store solar or wind energy for use in non-production periods. Right now every MW of power generated by those sources must be backed up by a MW of fossil power.
"...without requiring expensive grid upgrades."
Solar & wind energy do require grid upgrades. The cyclical nature of production wreaks havoc on grid stability. System load and generation must be exactly matched every second. The intermittent nature of wind and solar make grid management a big challenge.
Alternative energy is the future, there is no doubt about that.
But much more research and development is required to overcome the technical challenges. Figuring out an economical storeage method is the key to changing wind and solar energy to reliable wind and solar power.
“There is no doubt that renewable energy is the future here in New Jersey,” Chris Christie said when running for the governorship in 2008, comparing himself to Barack Obama. Now, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) is on a Koch binge, gutting his state’s investments in clean energy to reward right-wing polluter interests like the Koch brothers. At the end of May, Christie announced that he will pull New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, even though it has strengthened the state’s economy while reducing carbon pollution. He has siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from clean energy programs to pay for corporate boondoggles. Yesterday, Christie unveiled a new version of his state’s energy master plan that slashes goals for renewable electricity generation:
Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday that he planned to scale back New Jersey’s goals for renewable energy as he looked for an “achievable” approach to generating electricity in the state.
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/map_pv_us_annual10km_dec2008.jpg
This is from the national renewable energy lab and isn't biased. Solar power would be a real waste of resources for the northeast. Unless, of course, you have a very rich uncle who doesn't mind wasting vast quantities of money.
25 million is .576% of the yearly 6.1 billion in solar revenue.
But thx for playing.
Oh, but thanks for playing?