A Modest Proposal
Currently (no pun intended) about 5% of the energy being generated by SaskEnery is wind power. This may not seem like a lot, but it enough to power 7,000 homes.
What about solar?
I have talked about this before, but more and more projects are starting to be designed and proposed that make this a serious alternative.
the latest?
Yes, there would need to be a substantial investment by SaskEnergy, and that would come at the expense of dividends turned over to the province, but really, the NDP left a massive surplus for the Sask Party government to deal with.
The technology is ready. On the following pages we present a grand plan that could provide 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy (which includes transportation) with solar power by 2050. We project that this energy could be sold to consumers at rates equivalent to today’s rates for conventional power sources, about five cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). If wind, biomass and geothermal sources were also developed, renewable energy could provide 100 percent of the nation’s electricity and 90 percent of its energy by 2100.
And surly this is a better use of money than nuclear. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not in the norm in my party in that I am not philosophically opposed to a nuclear option, but for the same (or lower) investment that was made in wind power for the last 5 years, if SaskEnergy could just set a target of 10% solar-generated electricity, say in 7-10 years, then combined with wind we would have 15% renewable resources.
Add in co-generation, poly-generation and biomass projects and soon we could be looking at 1 in 4 MW being "green"
Now that is a modest proposal
