Why solar/wind power might be bad for the environment if not done properly.

[blackletter]

This afternoon I was overhearing my Dad (who is a plant ecologist who specializes in desert ecology--specifically Mojave desert) talk to one of his old ecologist friends (another Californian) about the current Mojave desert renewable energy plan problem.

Here's a short article explaining the situation.The summary of the problem is this: Although

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[blindswandive]

Solar panels stretched out over the wilderness can be owned by a corporation, and therefore the energy produced can be sold for profit, whereas a web of solar panels on private and public property could not be easily commodified.

::gapes::

....My god, I hadn't even thought of that.

I mean, I've been all for covering every available surface with solar paneling in a general kind of way, but.. that part of resistance to it hadn't even occurred to me.

....Wow.

I was really encouraged (and surprised) when Schwarzenegger put into all new low-income/assisted housing to have solar paneling. That was a good start. But TID (our local energy grid--luckily public instead of private) just won't do anything. We're still getting something like 46% from coal and 42% from natural gas, and 2% each (or less) for wind or solar or small hydro. They're already passing on the cost hike for the gas--there's no reason they shouldn't pass the cost hike for the outlay for solar to us, instead. Even just covering the public buildings--TID is the lowest, widest, flattest, sprawliest building in town--would be a good beginning.

The campus keeps talking about something I thought was brilliant: putting solar paneled roofs over the vast, hot, sprawling parking lots. It gets blazing here. Producing shade would make everyone's cars a lot nicer, especially when it's been 90˚F+ (or 100˚F+) for weeks and weeks on end. And we get 300 days of sun.

Why couldn't we power the campus this way? Why couldn't we produce enough to get paid to put some of the energy back onto the grid?

(Unfortunately, as they've been talking about it: rather than putting some auxiliary money into contracting the building out and owning them outright, collecting any excess profit from it and using that to pay off the panels... they talk about having someone else foot the bill to build them and keep all the profit. And possibly still charge us for what energy we use, if at a much lower rate. Capitalism at work! AGH!)