Page 6 - Green Builder Magazine July 2015 Issue

FIELD REPORT

4

News About Sustainability Issues and Green Products

THE FUTURE OF SOLAR
A new report from MIT predicts a sunny
future for solar, but says the federal CREDIT: TAMU

www.greenbuildermedia.com 07.2015 Bgovernment needs to help pave the way. commercial and utility-scale counterparts, and recommends
OTH GLOBALLY AND in the U.S., installed solar now that the structure of subsidies be change to reward generation,
accounts for one percent of all electricity produced. not investment. It also argues that the solar tax credit, set to
This May, MIT released an ambitious study titled expire at the end of 2016, should not be scrapped, but revised:
The Future of Solar Energy. The report recognizes the “Particularly in the absence of a charge on CO2 emissions,
potential of a massive scale-up in solar energy production in now is the wrong time to drastically reduce federal financial
mitigating the effects of climate change, and makes several support for solar technology deployment. The federal
recommendations for facilitating it. The report acknowledges investment tax credit should not be restored to its current
that silicon PV technology is “mature,” and that a good portion level, but it should be replaced with an output-based subsidy.”
of federal research dollars go to the development of thin-
film technologies that utilize abundant earth elements, such These are just a few of the highlights of this comprehensive
as silicon. Highlighting the vital role of energy storage for report. Read all 356 pages here: http://bit.ly/1FTJXdp
enabling high rates of solar penetration, the report also
recommends large-scale energy storage as another target for
federal research dollars.
The report also recognizes that, until carbon emissions
are penalized, solar cannot compete with fossil fuel-based
power generation at the utility scale. It points out the high
level of subsidies for residential installations, compared to

Hyperloop Solicits Designs

Pod prototypes for Elon Musk’s high- The 350-mile trip would take CREDIT: SPACEX
speed rail alternative could be tested as half an hour.
early as next summer.
Although more details
DESIGNERS, TAKE NOTE: Tesla Motors and SpaceX should be available on the
founder Elon Musk is getting one step closer to realizing SpaceX website on August 15,
his “pipe dream:” a proposed high-speed mass transit interested teams should expect
solution called the Hyperloop, which would initially connect Los to submit initial forms by
Angeles to San Francisco. SpaceX is soliciting design proposals September 15 and completed designs by December 15. Testing
for human-scale pods, to be tested on a one-mile test track near of the most promising prototypes will take place in June of 2016.
the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.
A handful of private companies are hosting the competition
The Hyperloop as Musk envisions it consists of transport and the development of the Hyperloop, none of them affiliated
pods, resting on a bed of air in a vacuum tube, that can reach with Musk or SpaceX.
a maximum speed of 750 mph. However, most of the journey
from L.A. to San Francisco would take place at sub-sonic speeds. More details about the competition can be found here:
www.spacex.com/hyperloop