Ahhh yes, the rational argument! The best argument! And out here in JesusLand, the wrong argument. We have this abomination to deal with. Solar out here rhymes with Satan and the legislature is actively fighting it. I'd love a real, punitive, carbon tax. I'd love to put solar on every residential rooftop that faces south. If I put solar on my roof as a hedge against our shitty power grid out here, I get penalized thanks to state laws that are protecting coal and the local utilities. And we cannot lease the power back into the grid like other states can. Moving 25 miles north into either Ohio or Indiana, and the picture changes, but that is not in the cards for me for various reasons. Good presumption and maybe a little low. And I completely agree with you. Every way to get energy that is not using carbon is a HUGE net positive. But as you say, there is "power," and then there is "Power." If we cannot move people off coal and have to wait for all the NewsCorp-watching old people to die, at least the trees are something to get everyone dragging along. Doing something, anything at this point, is a lot better than doing nothing.Presume your solar synfuel recracker operates at one tenth the efficiency of a refinery.
Never let it be said that I am anti-tree. Diversification, however, is often its own reward. That plate is amazing. By way of comparison, if you get a customized license plate in CA without it being any particular kind of special interest plate, it's an environmental plate.
Two points on this: First, in some cases it may be better to have them face west rather than south. Second, economies of scale make utility scale solar more cost effective than residential solar. While the wholesale panel costs may be similar, the simplified, standardized construction on a utility site pushes the costs down compared to houses with different construction, shape and sun exposure. I had no idea there was a coal license plate. That's amazing(ly sad). I like trees and should do more to plant more.I'd love to put solar on every residential rooftop that faces south.