Actually Energy Related

Nice Nova episode if you missed it.....
http://video.pbs.org/video/1873639434

The wedges game illustration was great. It shows we don't need a magic bullet, just a combination of things that we already know how to do, and the will to do it.

We record NOVA on our disc recorder. Saw previews for this.

Thanks for moving this to the appropriate place. Although, I am tempted to make a semi political comment supporting the great job PBS does in relation to science and that no commercial network touches.

I think removing the $2000 Federal cap on residential tax credits for solar, geo and wind was a big step in the right direction.

Let's make it 50% without a cap and expand it to anything that reduces our consumption and dependence on unsustainable fuel. 30% with the cap made the case for the stove and insulation investment the last couple years. 30%, no cap, and no requirement for a certified installer is going to put solar dhw on my roof this year. 50% would probably put 1000 sq ft of PV on the roof even with the certified installer requirement.

Feel good alone is not going to get us there.

"funding provided by David H Koch" is what I saw at the beginning!? maybe google adds knows that Jags has the dough, and I have the right wing rabies?

I'm sure we'll all put the politics behind us and create a political/governmental solution to global climate change right after we reach an agreement on gun control, Israel/Palestine etc.

Why don't we start putting the politics behind us by eliminating the subsidies that distort the costs and cause inefficient decisions?

When you pump money into something all it does is inflate the prices. Give consumers a 90% credit and costs will go through the roof overnight. Certify the installations and suddenly its not the equipment but the labor that gets expensive. I'm just not convinced that you can have a solar industry in the era of cheap oil. That being said, I'm against the oil subsidies through tax breaks + bloated military at the same time.

Taxing Petro to get the price up is the way they think (well not everyone). It will get the job done but we best know where that money is going.

I finally got to watch. What had the biggest impact on me was the realization that China is pretty way ahead of us on all this stuff. I have always been under the impression that China industry was just a bunch of factories pumping out stuff for US and other companies to their specs. I never knew about the level or research and development going on in what will be the industries of the future. The future is looking pretty grim for the good old USofA if we keep on fighting about whether or not there is climate change and if there is a finite supply of fossil fuels or not while China develops and owns the energy of the future. I wonder if any Tea Baggers will see this. I guess not due to the socialist implications of the existence of PBS.

The price likely goes up but so will the number of systems installed which is the goal isn't it? Let any electrician install PV or any plumber/HVAC guy install solar DHW and the game changes. Its not like any one local or regional distributor is going to corner the market on this equipment. A panel is a panel right? So, then you are left with a market of many suppliers and many consumers. It may increase the price where supply and demand meet, but it moves the installed quantity in the right direction if our goal is to reduce dependence on unsustainable fuel. Such a policy is arguably biased towards those that pay income tax but my guess is they are the ones most likely to make such investments anyway.

Solar does not need 90%. Even at 30%, self installed solar DHW makes a lot of sense and I am considering doing an off grid system to get around the certified installer requirement for the state grid-tied incentives.