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Arguments against wind, solar power don’t add up

Press Democrat:  By Geof Syphers and Carl Mears, June 18, 2011
“Robert Bryce’s conclusions about solar and wind in his attack on California’s renewable energy standards are dead wrong (“When wind and solar power don’t add up,” Sunday Forum, June 12).

First, his assumption that solar power requires large centralized systems located in far away deserts is false. In fact, installing solar panels on homes, businesses and parking lots close to where the electricity is consumed is preferable to remote big systems. Huge benefits accrue by avoiding the costs and negative land impacts from new swaths of transmission lines,and the energy line losses that occur when transmitting electricity long distances.” For the complete editorial >

Geof Syphers is a consultant for designing green buildings and is chief sustainability officer for Codding Enterprises. Carl Mears is a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a member of the board of the Climate Protection Campaign.