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A comment on Google's Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal. Parent comment

Re:Google's Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal by ivankirigin on Wednesday November 28, 2007 @11:27AM (#84306)
Solar doesn't win on marginal cost. What are you talking about? The marginal silicon based photovoltaic system has higher $/W than marginal increases in capacity of coal burning plants.

Why sell futures? Can't they sell energy or at least shares of companies they are investing in?

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Re:Google's Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal by byrneseyeview on Wednesday November 28, 2007 @06:11PM (#84450)
Marginal cost as in the cost of generating X+1 Watts versus X Watts. With coal, you dig for more coal; with solar, you wait for more sunlight. The systems (coal plants, photovoltaic systems) are capital costs.
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Re:Google's Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal by ivankirigin on Wednesday November 28, 2007 @07:40PM (#84476)
Then to answer your question, people look to capital costs for the cost of energy. Considering the rate of expansion of energy demand, it is the only number that matters.
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