Regarding solar power, the company 'Nanosolar' in the US is putting $100 million into a factory that will produce up to 430MW per year of solar cells. They have developed a cost effective roll-to-roll printing style technique that will allow unprecendented production rates. A customised 'ink' created using nanotechnology is printed onto a polymer surface, with little or no silicon used. Their website:

http://www.nanosolar.com/

Regarding 'global warming', I am very skeptical. Climate change is a natural pattern of cycles of heat and cold, etc. I have downloaded the IPCC report and will sit down and read it sometime.

Perseus I agree regarding how 'standard of living' is measured re Chinese and Indian increases and comparing it to high-energy use American/Australian/European lifestyles.

I reckon you get too worked up over 'Greenies' though. I get the impression many people who call themselves 'Anti-Green' throw out the baby with the bath water. Of course you can expect the Greens political party and Greenpeace to jump on any new 'clean' technology developments with great fervour, but that doesn't make the technologies redundant! The Howard Government for example seems to reject 'clean' technologies for fear of giving political ammo to their opponents in the Greens party.

Sorry Ev, you may have misread the tone of my posts. It is far more derision than anger. It is based on 15 years of observed incompetence, dishonesty and outright betrayal of our most contributive grass-roots ecolgists, in far too many policy committees and forums. I would sooner trust Daffy Duck with my children's future than that grandiose, moralising rabble who are never there when there is serious work to be done.

I see no reason to ruin my own health by hating them. And they provide such abundant scope for mirth.

Ev, 10 to 1 says that Nanosolar is already being targeted by greedy corporations in an attempt to suppress the technology, or to at least prevent it from becoming main stream. Big business doesn't want a population whereby people can actually "buy" anything that will reduce their dependance on the mulitnationals, so it's my bet we'll never get the opportunity to obtain this solar product at a resonable price until big business can figure some way of turning it into a cash cow. Were everyone to go solar, you'd soon see a situation similar to water supply whereby if water is simply piped past your property (doesn't matter that it's an empty block) you still pay a service charge. In the case of solar panels, electricity companies would force our gutless Government to enforce a levy on all households who disconnected from the grid or who produced more electricity via solar than they used from the grid. Until energy and greenhouse emmisions become an obvious life and death situation, the Government will continue to pander to the "big end of town."

Wildcat, building a $100 million production facility IS big business. Have a look at the list of those who have invested in that company:

http://www.nanosolar.com/investors.htm

Something is happening now the likes of which the world has never seen before ie. nanotechnology - designing materials to your requirements at the molecular level. In only ten years the internet has begun to transform humankind. This is simply follows on. In the same way that Google made billions of dollars, so too will these mass-produced solar cells, simply by economies of scale with a product that everyone can use.

I think a lot of people really don't realise what is going on at the moment, apart from in the daily war-show on TV and their entrenched daily routines.

Ok Ev. I'll admit that a $100 million facility IS big enough to be called big business, but I'm still sceptical that anything will ever be done to assist little people like myself to become more independant of big business. Every time the average person finds a way to live in such a manner as to deprive big business and Government of a few dollars, the two evils combine to extract more from you in some other form. I'll be more than glad to invest in these new solar cells and I have checked out the company. All I'm saying is that if everyone goes down the solar path and the utility companies are missing out financially, they'll soon begin howling to the Government to find a way to replace their lost revenue and the Government will happily oblige.

Wildcat

While Ev has made some good points, I agree with your post. A case in point is the entire 'nuclear debate' - there is nothing in it for the average person. Power is controlled by monopolies and nuclear reactors (unlike solar cells) cannot be installed into the average home (for which I am thankful!).

The 'international coming together' has to be of world citizens as opposed to global corporations. Only when governments realise that there are votes in sustainable policies will they follow the lead of the people, until then they will side with the corporations.