Word: solarity
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...glut of the 1980s sapped any motivation to develop alternative energy sources. Solar moved to the fringes of public consciousness in the U.S. as the Reagan Administration eliminated most of the federal funding for research, and big oil companies dropped their development programs. Result: solar accounts for less than 0.5% of the power generated in the U.S. today, instead of the 2% to 5% envisioned in the late 1970s...
What then explains a renewed romance with renewable energy among governments and corporations, especially since oil remains relatively cheap? Shell International Petroleum in London, which forecast the oil shocks of the 1970s, predicts that renewable power, particularly solar, will dominate world energy production by 2050. Japan's electronics giant Canon has formed a joint venture with Michigan's Energy Conversion Devices to commercialize solar technology. Enron, Germany's Siemens and scores of other companies, including aerospace firms, engineering giants and utilities, are also exploring opportunities to plug into the renewable-energy business. Is this collective corporate madness? Perhaps...
...full / well that cities such as New Delhi, Beijing and Mexico City are choking under blankets of smog. Most important of all: renewables are beginning to earn respect in the marketplace. During the past decade, improvements in technology and manufacturing have sharply increased the cost-effectiveness and reliability of solar-power systems...
...than 30% cheaper than oil, it burns efficiently, and it produces fewer pollutants and a third less carbon dioxide than oil. World production has risen 30% since the mid-1980s. Because of its advantages over dirtier hydrocarbons, natural gas may be a bridge between oil and coal and the solar...
...array of sun-powered monitors on Enron's network is one of many signs that solar's time is fast approaching. The community of Tennant Creek in northern Australia is scheduled to receive power soon from what is called a solar-thermal system. It will use a series of parabolic dishes to focus the sun's rays and superheat steam, which in turn will drive turbine generators. The designer, Stephen Kaneff of the Australian National University, calculates that these modest-size systems can produce power for as little as 4 cents per KW-H, cheaper than the polluting...