Hi. Welcome to the blog for my IB English B class at Jur Hronec High School in Bratislava, Slovakia. Below you will find links to other websites and discussion questions. My students are required to comment on one of these postings every month and also respond to each other's comments. Feel free to add your two bits, but be aware that all comments are monitored before being posted.
Should government funds be used to help support sustainable energy alternatives?Was this a success in Germany?Is it a good idea to cut down on subsidies now that solar panels are becoming more popular?
What is happening in Germany is inevitable and strangely satisfying. Germany is known to be amongst the most advanced and best functioning countries in Europe and that they decided to follow the path of renewable, most specifically, solar energy is a good sign. After this period, when we are seeing lots of solar panels installed in Germany it wouldn’t be surprising if in the near future we would see a lot of countries following suit. The fact that the subsidies are being exhausted is again just a good sign that people are smart and not overly conservative.
At the start, it was a great idea to subsidize solar panels and many countries are still doing so – including Slovakia, just that they haven’t been as successful everywhere for a variety of reasons. All in all, solar panel technology is still in its evolving period and subsidies are required to allow it to compete with other sources of energy production. In the end, I sympathize with the German public. They deserve subsidies if they are helping society and I don’t think that the subsidies have come to a level where the government just can’t afford it.
The use of alternative sources for energy is a great idea and the finances spent shall never be in vain. It isn’t unlikely that people and governments use their funds for utterly useless things. In contrast to these ideas, this is one of the concepts that is actually worth the buck and is likely to really make a difference to the surrounding environment. The state of technology is improving by the day; this gives us the chance to improve old methods into more ecological and efficient ways and gradually decrease the use of hazardous and bionomically unfriendly energy harvesting procedures like nuclear fission.
Although Slovakia isn’t as enthusiastic about photovoltaic power harvesting as Germany, but surrounding countries like Austria focus on acquiring their energy from wind turbines, which is another eco-friendly option that I fully support. The dilemma with using “green” procedures is that the technology is rather expensive for an average consumer to buy and utilize with benefits, which is the main reason why most people turn to the cheaper, more efficient and environment unfriendly techniques, but this is where the government’s subsidies come to play by creating solid support for the use of green technology. The interesting thing is that not only does the German government support these procedures, but it actually rewards the users of solar panels by deducting the value of energy harvested from their electrical bill, which sounds like a great deal to me.
I firmly believe that the subsidies from the government should be sustained and supported further and if the case is that there aren’t enough finances then the government should start cutting on the budget somewhere else. The success Germany accomplished in supporting eco-friendly methods is really praiseworthy. As the article mentioned; throughout the last two years the numbers of people using the solar panel technology have increased at a huge rate, which proves that the support was in fact extremely effective. I am strongly against the lowering of subsidies and support towards these kinds of ideas, furthermore I suggest that sustaining them should be a priority for the governments.
It is in the name itself that sustainable energy alternatives are a reasonable substitutes for traditional sources of energy. However, as Andrej had already pointed out, these tend to get more expensive than the established standards. The government funds is clearly an option if one wants to be more ecological, but does not have the money to do so. Subsidies increase demand and lower the prices, therefore it is totally fine to support the alternatives. Apart from the technology development, it seems to be the only option of making different energy sources more affordable.
In Germany, solar power subsidies were undoubtedly a success. The numbers prove my statement right - solar panels can provide up to 25% of Germany’s energy. In my opinion, that is an unreal number if you consider population of Germany.
In this particular case, I do not think it is smart to cut down on subsidies. The solar panels becoming so popular make the government’s goal, to phase out nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster, more realistic than I would ever expect. They might not accomplish what they had planned to, because it is likely the demand will dramatically decrease with higher prices. Even though the current economic prognosis is not very optimistic, I would rather opt for smaller subsidy reduction and cut down on something else. Moreover, the government also risks the jobs in the renewable energy industry. Nevertheless, as the article concludes, it might still be just a try to get the major energy companies back into the game.
What is happening in Germany is inevitable and strangely satisfying. Germany is known to be amongst the most advanced and best functioning countries in Europe and that they decided to follow the path of renewable, most specifically, solar energy is a good sign. After this period, when we are seeing lots of solar panels installed in Germany it wouldn’t be surprising if in the near future we would see a lot of countries following suit. The fact that the subsidies are being exhausted is again just a good sign that people are smart and not overly conservative.
ReplyDeleteAt the start, it was a great idea to subsidize solar panels and many countries are still doing so – including Slovakia, just that they haven’t been as successful everywhere for a variety of reasons. All in all, solar panel technology is still in its evolving period and subsidies are required to allow it to compete with other sources of energy production. In the end, I sympathize with the German public. They deserve subsidies if they are helping society and I don’t think that the subsidies have come to a level where the government just can’t afford it.
The use of alternative sources for energy is a great idea and the finances spent shall never be in vain. It isn’t unlikely that people and governments use their funds for utterly useless things. In contrast to these ideas, this is one of the concepts that is actually worth the buck and is likely to really make a difference to the surrounding environment. The state of technology is improving by the day; this gives us the chance to improve old methods into more ecological and efficient ways and gradually decrease the use of hazardous and bionomically unfriendly energy harvesting procedures like nuclear fission.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Slovakia isn’t as enthusiastic about photovoltaic power harvesting as Germany, but surrounding countries like Austria focus on acquiring their energy from wind turbines, which is another eco-friendly option that I fully support. The dilemma with using “green” procedures is that the technology is rather expensive for an average consumer to buy and utilize with benefits, which is the main reason why most people turn to the cheaper, more efficient and environment unfriendly techniques, but this is where the government’s subsidies come to play by creating solid support for the use of green technology. The interesting thing is that not only does the German government support these procedures, but it actually rewards the users of solar panels by deducting the value of energy harvested from their electrical bill, which sounds like a great deal to me.
I firmly believe that the subsidies from the government should be sustained and supported further and if the case is that there aren’t enough finances then the government should start cutting on the budget somewhere else. The success Germany accomplished in supporting eco-friendly methods is really praiseworthy. As the article mentioned; throughout the last two years the numbers of people using the solar panel technology have increased at a huge rate, which proves that the support was in fact extremely effective. I am strongly against the lowering of subsidies and support towards these kinds of ideas, furthermore I suggest that sustaining them should be a priority for the governments.
It is in the name itself that sustainable energy alternatives are a reasonable substitutes for traditional sources of energy. However, as Andrej had already pointed out, these tend to get more expensive than the established standards. The government funds is clearly an option if one wants to be more ecological, but does not have the money to do so. Subsidies increase demand and lower the prices, therefore it is totally fine to support the alternatives. Apart from the technology development, it seems to be the only option of making different energy sources more affordable.
ReplyDeleteIn Germany, solar power subsidies were undoubtedly a success. The numbers prove my statement right - solar panels can provide up to 25% of Germany’s energy. In my opinion, that is an unreal number if you consider population of Germany.
In this particular case, I do not think it is smart to cut down on subsidies. The solar panels becoming so popular make the government’s goal, to phase out nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster, more realistic than I would ever expect. They might not accomplish what they had planned to, because it is likely the demand will dramatically decrease with higher prices. Even though the current economic prognosis is not very optimistic, I would rather opt for smaller subsidy reduction and cut down on something else. Moreover, the government also risks the jobs in the renewable energy industry. Nevertheless, as the article concludes, it might still be just a try to get the major energy companies back into the game.