"X ` Man" wrote in message ...



Which has nothing to do with the fact that "we can do better" with
electricity in the future.

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With the exception of nuclear power generation and the possible
futuristic development of
hydrogen fuel cells, there is really nothing on the horizon now or in
the foreseeable future
that will replace fossil fuels as being the primary source of
electrical energy production.

Having been involved in an industry that has seen three major spikes
of solar power interest,
(the first being in the late 70's), the efficiency of solar panels
has gone from from about 8 percent
to about 15-18 percent in the last 35 years. It needs to be triple
that to be a realistic contender
to replace fossil fuels.

Wind? Forget it. The largest operational wind turbine (in Germany)
produces 5MW of power
under ideal conditions (wind speed of 30 mph). Most of the time the
output is much less.
The USA uses 3,741,000,000 MW/hr/yr of electrical power as things are
now. That doesn't
include replacing fossil fuel sources with wind generated power to
charge batteries in automobiles.