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REAL CHANGE
(not small change)
We're being told by today's High Priests of Conventional Wisdom that everyone and everything in our economic cosmos necessarily revolves around one dazzling star: the corporation. This heavenly institution, the HPCW explain, has such financial and political mass that it is the optimal force for organizing and directing our society's economic affairs, including the terms of employment and production.
BGilmore Kealakekua Dear
BGilmore
Kealakekua
Dear Jim,
You produce an engaging newsletter. But so that you can avoid charges of preaching to an elite choir, I'd like to suggest you run these great emission-cutting prospects by an economist. That way we'd have some idea of what alternative energies are going to cost. It would help us pick the ones that will have the most economic and environmental benefit for the buck.
I used the word "elite". Let me use "Be Your Own Electric Utility"(Aug'09, p.4) to explain why. Mr. Buckner's electric bill for all of last year was only $300. That will make Joe Blow sit up and take notice for sure, since he's out of work nowadays and could lose both his house and his car to foreclosure and repossession. Buckner paid $20,000.00 for his solar array. Assuming Joe Blow could even get a loan from a bank today, a 5-year amortization at 5.75% would cost him over $400 a month. Payments on an electric car would more than double that amount. Then, every two years or so, we will need to replace the car's batteries for thousands of dollars more. Mr. Blow cannot afford any of that.
That's why I say "elite". Only those lucky enough to have kept their wealth in recent months can even dream of an outlay like Buckner's. It strikes me that being one's own utility is a vanity hobby for moneyed folk.
When subsidies dry up, only the most economically sound environmental projects can sustain themselves. It will cost the earth to save it.
-- posted by gil1958 at 4:31pm, September 3, 2009
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Be your own electric utility
In 2002, Peter Buckner bought an all-electric Toyota Rav4EV for his daily commute across the San Francisco Bay Bridge. To "fill up," he simply plugs the vehicle into a wall socket in his garage, and the batteries are charged overnight. Freed from fluctuating gasoline prices, and having a near-zero maintenance car, Pete has since invested in rooftop solar panels to offset the increase in his electricity bill. He had figured out that the family's house, which he shares with his wife and two daughters, has a roof area of about 1,000 square feet--enough to accommodate an array of 24 photovoltaic cell panels. These panels weigh no more than asphalt shingles, and the full array cost him about $20,000 after rebates. It took only three days to install the panels and connect a conduit from the roof to the meter in Pete's garage. The solar system now powers not only the electric SUV, but also the whole house, including the usual complement of TVs, computers, video games, and other electronic gizmos. During the day (even foggy San Francisco days), the excess electricity for their home coming from the solar panels turns the utility meter backwards. Last year, the family's net cost for all household electricity and for powering their car was $300.