代替エネルギーの実力は？

The New York Times > Business > A Different Era for the Alternative Energy Business

Electricity-generating solar panels, which were invented 50 years ago and cost $100 a watt in 1976 now sell for less than $3 a watt, and are expected to continue declining 5 percent annually in cost even if there are no technology breakthroughs. For now, solar energy technology is approximately 10 times as expensive as traditional fossil fuel systems for generating large amounts of electricity, according to a recent estimate by the Sandia National Laboratories. But solar is already a cheaper alternative for powering sites that are long distances from the power grid.

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産油国への牽制という意味ももちろんあるのだろうが、まあ、ここはそこまで皮肉に考えず、明るい展望とうけとめたい。巨大な集中システムなんかなくしても、分散とネットワークで電力は十分にまかなえる時代が来るんじゃないかと素人は思うのだが。そうなると原子力プラントをばかばかつくってきた電力会社も石炭産業みたいに消えてなくなるか。