<story><title>For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US</title><url>https://www.popsci.com/environment/renewable-energy-generation-coal-2022/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>photochemsyn</author><text>This would have happened a bit earlier if the most efficient and long-lasting solar panels, monocrystalline silicon, had been developed by US manufacturers instead of by Chinese ones.  All the tariffs applied by state and federal regulators on the import of these panels have been about slowing the rate of solar PV production in the USA on behalf of the fossil fuel and investor-owned utility sectors.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.pv-magazine.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;14&amp;#x2F;the-weekend-read-chinas-monocrystalline-boom&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.pv-magazine.com&amp;#x2F;2018&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;14&amp;#x2F;the-weekend-read-chin...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Claims that these tariffs have some human rights motivations are nonsensical, would the US block imports of Saudi oil over human rights abuses there? Of course not - but silicon solar panels, oh my!&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reuters.com&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;china&amp;#x2F;exclusive-us-blocks-more-than-1000-solar-shipments-over-chinese-slave-labor-2022-11-11&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reuters.com&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;china&amp;#x2F;exclusive-us-blocks-more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s no surprise that the pushback by politicians owned by investors in fossil fuels and utilities has been so intense - energy is one of the most lucrative investments, and it&amp;#x27;s rather difficult to control and meter the flow of sunlight to homes, in comparison to natural gas or crude oil.&lt;p&gt;Notably, the USA has no R &amp;amp; D programs or subsidy programs like the CHIPS act (for semiconductors for computation, not for power production) aimed at rapidly expanding monocrystalline silicon production.</text></comment>
<story><title>For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US</title><url>https://www.popsci.com/environment/renewable-energy-generation-coal-2022/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>tjbiddle</author><text>My comment isn&amp;#x27;t directly related to the OP, but figured it&amp;#x27;d be an interesting insight to share as it&amp;#x27;s very recent for me.&lt;p&gt;Just finished a motorbike trip in Laos. Fun fact, their largest export is electricity.&lt;p&gt;Would&amp;#x27;ve never guessed that, right?&lt;p&gt;90% of the electricity they generate is exported to neighboring countries - mostly Thailand.&lt;p&gt;80% is renewable - Go Laos!&lt;p&gt;But wait, it may be renewable... but turns out the government is corrupt and constantly sells rights to the highest bidder wanting to build a dam for hydroelectric wherever they want, and usually without any sort of environmental survey - oops. It&amp;#x27;s the driest country I&amp;#x27;ve been to in a while, many villages had their water access completely destroyed due to upstream dams.&lt;p&gt;Just a cautionary tale as &amp;quot;renewable&amp;quot; doesn&amp;#x27;t necessarily mean better - green-washing is absolutely still a thing out there and we should be sure to thoroughly vet information before assuming it&amp;#x27;s more viable solution for us.</text></comment>