Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
enormous amounts of money given each year to fossil fuels. The military
expenditures were noted in chapter 6, but the number of nonmilitary
subsidies is equally mind-boggling. These subsidies are embedded
throughout the generation and delivery value chain; ten of them have
been enumerated by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
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Subsidies, incentives, and giveaways are applied throughout the energy
life cycle, including the phases of research and development, extraction,
transport, production, consumption, and decommissioning and are
extremely diffi cult to uncover. But they are there, although not men-
tioned by supporters of fossil fuel use. When the external costs of envi-
ronmental degradation and health costs of fossil fuel use are added to
the subsidies, it is diffi cult to maintain the frequently quoted statistic that
solar photovoltaic power is several times more expensive than fossil fuels
and nuclear energy. It is likely that the reverse is true.
Federal subsidies are a way of life in the United States for both indus-
tries and families. Businesses get rapid depletion allowances on new
equipment, farming conglomerates get agricultural subsidies, parents get
tax deductions for children, poor families get both federal and state
assistance, and so on. Examination of almost any industry or aspect of
life reveals that Washington has legislated government assistance for
most of the things Americans do, whether at work or in family life. Many
of these aids were granted with the best intentions a long time ago, and
some of them have resulted from intense lobbying by industries, but
whatever their origin, they skew the marketplace in favor of some groups
and to the disadvantage of others. The renewable energy industries have
been consistently disadvantaged by government policies for decades. This
policy may be changing because of a new attitude in Washington.
Solar Heating
Passive solar heating is increasingly used in building construction, where
windows are located to maximize the greenhouse effect in rooms and
offi ces and reduce the need for heating. Active solar heating systems
pump a heat-absorbing medium such as air, water, or antifreeze through
a small collector. Active collectors are generally located adjacent to or
on top of a building and are required in Israeli construction. In the United
States, solar heating panels are uncommon, but 70 percent more were
installed in 2008 than in 2007.
Sixty-seven percent of installed solar heating devices are in China. In
Europe, new installations roughly tripled in 2008 and demonstrated that
an area does not have to be in the sun belt to benefi t from solar panels.
