A fascinating perspective on solar power in WV. Enjoy.
JBK
Bill Howley <billhowley@hughes.net> Jul 22 10:37AM -0400
I have attached a copy of a new study out of Carnegie Mellon that begins
to monetize the impact of renewable power on the actual displacement of
fossil fuel power in different parts of the US. PV is particularly
valuable in the heavily coal dependent PJM and MISO regions. Because PV
in WV directly displaces coal-fired power, the health benefits,
expressed in the study in monetary terms are among the highest in the
US. Here's an example from the report:
Solar panels in Indiana, Ohio, or West Virginia achieve significant
health and environmental benefits by displacing coal-fired
generators. Despite a poor solar resource, a 1-kW PV panel in
Ohio provides $105 in health and environmental benefits per year
($75/MWh)---15 times more than the same panel in Arizona.
Remarkably, if the goal is to improve air quality and human health,
Arizona and New Mexico are among the worst locations for solar.
On the basis of this analysis, either a feed-in tariff or an SREC market
that would provide PV producers with at least $75/MWh (one SREC) would
be justified simply in terms of the health benefits we create for
everyone in WV, including the rate payers that would be subsidizing the
market or the FIT.
Now we have a number to start with.
There are some serious flaws in the study in its analysis of wind, but
their PV analysis looks good. Here is my critique of the wind part of
the study, as well as how the study was misinterpreted in the WaPo -
http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/07/21/wapo-clueless-blogger-starts-well-ends-up-more-clueless-than-ever/
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*Bill Howley Research* -- PO Box 3 -- Chloe, WV 25235 -- 304-655-8255