Can natural gas give solar a bright future?

Florida Off Shore Drilling

In a most unlikely twist in the renewable energy versus fossil fuel story, the green brigade behind clean and harmless solar power are set to join forces with the dirty and polluting purveyors of gas power...

No, really. Ignoring cries of hypocrisy and "selling out" from environmentalists, the solar industry is hoping to take the money made from resources beneath the ocean floor and put it onto the roofs of Florida homes. There are plans afoot to open up Florida's offshore water to oil drilling, then use some of the royalties to make solar panel technology more accessible in the state

This is the vision of future House Speaker Dean Cannon, the Republican lawmaker who stunned Floridians earlier this year with an amendment to permit drilling for oil and gas in the narrow strip of state-controlled waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposal was intent on rescuing a grim state budget, but was blasted by enraged environmentalists and never got traction during the Legislature's spring session.

But now, this new idea has further enraged the environmentalists, not wanting the clean solar sector to be dragged to its future through the dirt. Some have taken quite drastic action. Ed Strobel, president of Sunshine Solar Services in Fort Lauderdale, resigned from his post at the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group of manufacturers, retailers, consultants and installers, claiming he had to "draw the line" after Bruce Kershner, the group's executive director, supported the idea saying, "we are more of an energy organization and not so much an environmental organization."

But one can't help but think that any similar action taken by other people in opposition to the idea will be in vein. The rigs appear to be well on their way to the Florida coasts as Cannon is hellbent on pushing the required legislation through the House, with his counterpart in the Senate likely to do the same, according to Mike Thomas of OrlandoSenitel.com.

It's true the idea of passing royalties onto a renewable energy projects is a shameless effort to meet environmentalists halfway(ish) and facilitate the approval of the rigs, but in reality the idea does makes some sense.

Solar power is the future. Oil and gas are the present. But fossil fuels simply must play a part in our "short-term" energy future, especially if produced domestically. Using the money generated from oil and gas projects - that help to reduce dependence on foreign energy - to fund the development of an industry very much in need of investment, is a good idea. Fossil and alternative fuels will have to co-exist, for the time being at least, so such ideas should be welcomed as a compromise until the renewable sector is able to stand alone.

Florida is a great example, up to now utilities have had little incentive to promote solar energy. Florida does not require that they generate a minimum percentage of their energy from renewable sources. Nor does it require them to buy power from small solar plants at premium prices, which would encourage investors to build them.

Therefore, for now, revenue should not be balked at, even if it does come from a "dirty" source. Oil and gas have real market value, it makes sense to use the money to diversify America's domestic energy production.

What's more, most of the fuel that lies under the Gulf of Mexico is thought to be natural gas, the cleanest of all the fossil fuels, with half the carbon emissions of coal - President Barack Obama says so himself.

So, natural gas may just be the perfect companion for solar energy.

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