Self Flaggelation through Higher Education
Christ almighty , I actually bit off more than I can chew. Finals on Math, a poetry review in 8 parts, and a 300 word essay done on an unknown topic to be written in class in 2 hours. Busy fucking week man.
But, I like this last one I did, I will probably lose some points in structure, as it was supposed to be in some wierd CAB123 format, but I just winged it out after reading the articles. I already had an interest in the subject so that helped a bit. Citations available in MLA format on request. For those that don't know, the MLA format is where all the Nazi's went after the war...
Wormwood 1
Screwtape
ENG101
06/28/09
Green is the Color of Money
With the sharp rise we have experienced in foreign oil and the increased expense of re-fitting our existing production plants to meet pollution laws being passed each year, looking at the viability of renewable energy sources from a standpoint of profit margins and overhead in the long term is a subject that deserves a good deal more attention than it is currently receiving. Though some may say renewable energy is no competitor t traditional production methods, in this discourse we will cover renewable energies advantages in terms of their integration to the existing system, their ease of compliance to ever more restrictive environmental and pollution laws, and their stable cost of production.
As evidenced by the new assault of independent electric providers, the subject of integration between existing production and delivery systems with new technologies and providers has arisen. Stated by Douglas Bohi, a director of Resources for the Future, “Utilities can’t cooperate when they’re also becoming competitive enemies,” (Jost) and goes on to say,” When they start sacrificing investments in their systems, the place where they’re likely to sacrifice is the transfer capability between one system and another.” (Jost) With a nod to common-sense, a company unable to deliver a product to a consumer, will lose market share fairly quickly, and when one adds in to the equation a current push for ISOs, or, independent system operators, whose sole responsibility would be to provide power to the consumer from its point of production, the concern of transfer capability is removed. (Jost) John Anderson, executive director for Electricity Consumers Resource Council dismisses the idea of poor
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transmission integration out of hand stating that the technology is no barrier to this transition, and the dependability of electric transmission would in no way be affected under the current competitive system. (Jost) From this information, one could infer that the cost of integration of renewable resources into the energy market would be no greater than any other type of energy.
Many supporters of renewable energies would at this point emphasize on the low impact these production types have on the environment and their ability to be built in any locale, rather than the current options of disrupting large areas designated as natural reserves. Here one chooses to instead show how the overhead and initial investment costs are lowered by these very strengths, giving a solid profit motivation, rather than a moral one. With many companies finding need to constantly upgrade their facilities to comply with the Clean Air Act of 1970, and the resulting legislations passed since its inception, a recurring cost is already present. Taking a solar generating facility such as the PS10 plant in Seville, Spain as an example, one can see that the emissions from this plant are zero, as evidenced by this statement: “When complete, the Sanlucar la Mayor Solar Platform will prevent the emission of more than 600,000 metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. These emissions would have resulted from burning fossil fuels to supply electricity to the 180,000 homes that will be served by the Solar Platform. “ (ENS) With no need for refitting, and the ability to place a facility such as this in areas not protected as wildlife reserves or natural treasures, it takes the initial survey and development costs out of the picture along with the lengthy process and cost of lobbying for placement of controversial producers such as nuclear or coal burning facilities.
The resulting impact of this sort of electric production facility on an environment is next to none. Its nature is to take an existing resource, the sun, and redirect it over a few kilometers to a
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collection device. There is not a heavy flow of traffic to and from the facility, subsequently cutting shipping costs and fuel consumption for maintaining and supplying the facility, while further lowering its impact on the surrounding area. With no waste product from the consumption of an expendable fuel, there is no need for processing and filtering facilities required by so many of the other types of electric production facilities. Disposal of large quantities of waste product, which are governed by yet another set of laws, is cut from the equation of overhead as well. Our “Achilles Heel” in this is the initial investment cost, a theme common in all new technologies. The PS10 facility cost of 1.67 billion U.S., with the first stage cost of 49.26 million, (ENS) is a number to stagger most investors. Realizing that the reduction of overhead has so many different areas at where you can cut your costs over the life of the facility, that initial investment is mitigated by these savings.
One other aspect we can look at is the stable cost of production of electricity from renewable energy sources. The average cost that is passed along to the consumer is made of many aspects, but one of the most readily quantified is the cost of fuel. Most facilities rely on some form of fuel shipped from a provider, be that coal, oil, or natural gas. The market forces that drive the cost of these fuels, (Weeks) directly relate to how the energy provider bills the consumer. A higher cost in oil (Weeks) will make the provider who uses this source as a means to produce electricity pass those costs on to the consumer, but, coupled with the need to stay competitive in the market, the provider can only recoup so much of that rise. Energy derived from renewable resources has the most stable cost of production of any method currently available. With no dependence on the market’s cost of fuel, the cost per unit is based on the ability to recover the initial investment plus simple maintenance of the equipment.
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One could argue the many different ways that our current energy production methods damage not only the environment, but our health as well. Here, in this writing, it was chosen to instead appeal to our baser but more easily reached nature; the desire to advance ourselves in terms of material wealth. It is easily shown that integration of these technologies into our existing infrastructure, the ease with which these methods may comply with pollution statutes and environmental conservancy efforts, and the stability of the cost to produce electricity from alternate energy sources, is a sound investment, with a competitive profit margin for the life of the facility.