COMMENTARY
The whole renewable energy sector is at a huge disadvantage in the very stupid modern capitalist market economy. I do not say 'stupid' lightly. Corporate profits in the extractive energy industry puts ZERO COST in the accounting for the raw material it exploits and therefore is able to report far bigger profits than are really being earned. The investors love it ... but it is a very stupid way of doing the accounting and the reporting of profit. The fact that it is the 'accepted way' of doing the accounting does not make it right.

Money profit accounting in the extractive energy industry costs the expenditures made to gain access to the resources, to explore, to drill wells, build pipelines, storage facilities, shipping terminals, refineries, distribution systems ... but the actual raw material that goes into this system is accounted for at a zero cost. This is nuts ... stupid.

The fossil energy being exploited has taken millions of years to form. The replicate the process is impossible, but the nearest thing would be to have a 'replacement cost' as the cost of the raw material ... in other words, the cost of making energy using any one of the many alternative renewable systems.

In one fell swoop, the unfavorable economics of modern renewables changes to super favorable.

An integrated oil company could continue to operate just as they do today, but instead of reporting huge profits which they can give to their investors, they would find themselves reporting losses even though they might still have positive sach flow. I do not know what they would choose to do. In all probablity the market price for energy would increase significantly ... changing the choices everyone makes ...

TO BE CONTINUED ... this is important
Peter Burgess

Fox News Attacks ‘Failing’ Solar Company As Parent Company News Corp Invests In The Same Solar Company

Throughout the Solyndra proceedings, one of the biggest perpetrators of the “failing” solar myth has been Fox News. Fox has made wild claims in its coverage of Solyndra, including calling clean energy a “fantasy,” “pointless,” a “hoax,” and that “green energy is failing.”

Trying to dredge up another solar scandal, Fox recently pointed to another company, SunPower, as proof of solar’s failure. Here’s Megyn Kelly calling SunPower a “failing company“:

Well, if you thought the Solyndra loan scandal was bad, listen to this one. New questions being raised today as we learn that another failing company, SunPower, was given a government loan guarantee for $1.2 billion, which is of course more than twice the amount given to Solyndra, which is now bankrupt. And right now that company too, not looking good.

Watch the Fox News attacks on SunPower:

Not only is SunPower regarded as an industry success (one solar market expert called it “a pretty big success story”), but Fox’s sister company — also owned by News Corporation — is confident enough to hire SunPower. Last year, Dow Jones Company, a subsidiary of News Corp, enlisted SunPower to build a giant solar power system in New Jersey. Dow Jones claimed that at peak conditions, the installation would generate 50 percent of the energy needs for its corporate campus. On the News Corp Global Energy Initiative page, Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton is quoted saying the solar installation stands for the future:

“If this solar installation stands for anything at Dow Jones, it should stand as a testament to a company with vision. Dow Jones isn’t waiting for the future. We are making it. We are pioneering profitable digital business models, and we are developing innovative technology to make information more accessible and more useful and ultimately more interesting.

Clearly, companies like News Corp trust solar enough to invest in it. Experts call SunPower a “safe bet” and “strongly placed,” but News Corp’s attack on itself exemplifies how anti-innovation the conservative ideology has become. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has insisted, “We have to press forward … Not by clutching to the past but by seizing the future.” However, conservatives — like those on Fox — cling to conspiracy theories and special interests at the expense of clean energy innovation.

UPDATE

As Stephen Lacey points out, it is ridiculous that Fox is even attacking SunPower, because it never received a loan guarantee. SunPower is building a solar project for the massive global energy company NRG, which received the loan guarantee — funding that did not go to SunPower. Tags: Fox NewsNews CorpSolar EnergySolyndra