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From: Ordania-DM@cup.portal.com (Charles K Hughes)
Newsgroups: sci.energy,sci.electronics,sci.physics
Subject: Re: solar cells
Message-ID: <37487@cup.portal.com>
Date: 2 Jan 91 06:31:57 GMT
References: <1990Dec31.171413.18138@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
  <1990Dec31.220520.27738@zoo.toronto.edu> <37448@cup.portal.com>
  <1991Jan2.015717.23554@amd.com>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
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>In article <37448@cup.portal.com> Ordania-DM@cup.portal.com (Charles K Hughes) 
>writes:
>|  Solar power: no digging, no processing, energy is converted from 
>|sunlight, no remains.
>
>So you must think that solar cells grow on trees.

  Yes, as a matter of fact, I do...what do you think leaves are?  However,
you took the statement out of context.  In comparison to Nuclear Energy,
the solar cells are the Nuclear power plant, *NOT* the fuel that runs the
power plant.

>
>|  Under the absolute worst case scenario a solar cell will last forever as
>|its own waste product.  Presumably it won't contain harmful substances
>|that can get into water supplies, the air, etc.  Now, if it does contain 
>|some harmful substance, then we should recycle it.
>
>Aside from the fact that you keep ignoring the cost of making solar cells,

  I'm not ignoring the cost of making the solar cells, you are simply
espousing the view that the cost of creation is the only cost.  It isn't.
All the costs must be added in in order to find the actual price per unit
of energy delivered by any source.

>why are chemical poisons, which last forever, more acceptable than

  Chemical "poisons" can be broken down using current technology.

>nuclear ones, which decay away? They are both invisible. They have both
>been used to kill people.

  Nuclear poisons can't be broken down by us.  They will decay over time,
but since we can break down chemical poisons it makes no sense whatsoever
to create nuclear ones.

>
>
>--
>Whatever happened to Global Warming? Could we have some Local Warming?

Charles_K_Hughes@cup.portal.com