Keith Johnson notes that green subsidies can’t seem to eliminate themselves.
When are lower subsidies a good thing for renewable energy? When the subsidies are still higher than the gutpunching the industry was bracing for.
GermanyÂ’s apparent compromise decision to lower solar-power subsidies only 8% per year came as a huge relief to the whole solar sector, which was worried subsidies could have been cut by as much as 25%. Despite a lot of talk lately about how renewable-energy is coming of age with or without subsidies, itÂ’s another reminder that clean-energy like wind and solar power is still hugely dependent on government largess to make the numbers work.
Have similar subsidies ever worked themselves out of a job?
Personally, I continue to hope that solar thermal will achieve competitive life cycle ROI. I’m confident solar thermal will compete with CO2 priced at $100/ton or more. I have no idea if the politicians will price carbon — which is only meaningful if China, Brazil and India agree to the basic deal.
Hopefully solar PV will also prove a competitor — it is just further off the pace. OTOH, I have no access to Nanosolar’s numbers — do they work?
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