Monday, July 13, 2015

Remember When Greece was Going to be a "Solar Powerhouse"?


On the way to bankruptcy, Greece stopped by most of the same places as Obama. Spending money as if it grew on trees? Check. Tossing money at the civil service? Check. Investing in renewables? What do you think?
Cash-strapped Greece cut its subsidies for solar power producers on Wednesday, saying it could no longer afford to pay the current rates and that it had already licensed all the units it needs to meet its renewable energy targets.
In an effort to lift its ailing economy out of the doldrums, Athens has even presented plans to become Europe's solar energy powerhouse, attracting up to 20 billion euros ($26.2 billion) in investment in the decades to come.
I can't imagine how the money ran out.
Solar powerhouse is usually the last two words you hear right before, "Can I borrow another trillion?"
Based on the number of projects already licensed, Greece will easily meet its target to produce 1,500 MW from solar panels in 2014, the ministry said on Wednesday.
It also met its target for closed banks and people in soup kitchens. If only there was some way to make money using the sun.
There were more cuts last year. This year the Green parasites were unhappy because not enough money was being wasted in a bankrupt country to install more solar panels.
Despite technically reaching grid parity, Greece installed a mere 13 MW of new solar PV in 2014, according to official statistics released last week.
Greece's PV stall is the result of the former government's policies, which clearly attempted to reverse Greece's stellar PV growth
How much PV growth can you have before people start eating the solar panels? Won't someone think of the Chinese slave labor poisoning rivers to make solar panels?
I don’t know why solar in Greece fell off a cliff like this. They have great solar resources. Solar is cheap now.
But it might of course be caused by the insecurity and turmoil over the bailout. Since Greece just went into default, people are unable to get their own money out of the banks, and it’s anybody’s guess how these questions will be resolved in the coming months and years, clearly this is a massive problem.
And while other countries now don’t have Greece’s financial problems, that might change in the future. Once climate change and a couple of wars caused by the resulting famines and refugee waves hit in earnest, it might become more difficult to pull off the transition to solar and other renewable energy, even at still lower prices of solar.
And when the gates of hell open and vomit forth a plague of demons, just think how few people will be interested in making the transition to solar.

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