Branch, Towne-First Praise Myers Solar Energy Complex 04/10/3133
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT HOWARD--Koth province Senator Westley Branch and his Towne-First party
today heaped praise on the plans unveiled by Myers Universal Solutions, Incorporated
(MUSInc) to establish a solar energy complex in the Tahitian province on the Gherst
continent. MUSInc, a Kale Bay - based utilities and power technology development
firm, applied for a grant earlier this year under a recently enacted provision of the
Towne-wide Energy Development Bill, intended to encourage the development of
cheaper energy resources to support the planet’s increasing industrial activities.
“With luck, the investment our government makes today in MUSInc and its visionary
leader will pay dividends for centuries,” Branch told INN in a press conference.
“Today, some of our world’s best and brightest have stepped forward to carry us into
a future better prepared than ever. We can only hope that others will soon join them
and, in so doing, make Towne strong again.”
Augustus Myers, founder and CEO of MUSInc and an outspoken proponent of
Senator Branch’s Energy Conservation Bill, declared that his proposed complex, set to
begin construction in three months, would provide power to tens of thousands of
residents along Gherst’s eastern seaboard. The complex, which will occupy nearly six
square kilometers of the Shahiri Desert west of Kale Bay, will gather solar radiation--
particularly ultraviolet light--and convert it into clean, cheap, and usable electrical
power suitable for commercial and residential use. Initial costs to consumers
switching to solar power from conventional nuclear and fossil fuel sources, however,
are expected to run higher than the global average in order to offset the projected
expense of building and maintaining the gigantic array. Though reluctant to give hard
numbers, Myers says that rough projections indicate that enough reliable, clean energy
will be made available to over 70,000 commercial and residential customers.
“Over the long term,” Myers assured INN reporters, “our customers will see a drop
in energy prices as the Shahiri plant comes into its own and initial start-up costs are
covered. Even these costs can be offset, however, if the [Branch Energy
Conservation] bill passes.”
With a 300 percent boom to mining, processing, and manufacturing anticipated over
the next two years, the issue of global power needs has come to the fore. In the
planetary Senate, suggested approaches to handling the looming energy crisis have
ranged from a controversial tax-raising energy conservation bill, put forward by
Senator Branch, to a competing alternative offered by the Nationalist party that would
reduce the levies on off-world energy sources, such as petrochemicals and deuterium
fuels.
“At its heart, the debate boils down to isolationism versus alliance-building,” said
Wilhelm Gaytes, political science professor for the University of Towne in Port
Howard. “On the one hand, leaders like Branch advocate making Towne more self-
sufficient, seeing to its own energy needs in case The Republic fails to restore order
and the region plunges into further violence. On the other hand, those with faith that
The Republic will recover feel that resources are better spent keeping trade and
communication lines open with neighboring worlds.”
Myers maintains that the motivations of MUSInc are professional and ecological, not
political. “Though we certainly appreciate both sides of the current energy-control
debate, the truth is that there is an opportunity here that neither MUSInc or Towne as
a whole can ignore. Solar energy arrays run cleaner, and cheaper, than comparable
hydroelectric, geothermal, or even nuclear-based power plants. Whether ComStar
manages to turn all the lights back on and the Exarch once more manages to pull the
disparate elements of The Republic back under control, Towne must ensure that its
energy needs are met--and that is the very reason I founded this company.”
“Towne could use a few more forward-thinkers like Mr. Myers and his company,”
Senator Branch told reporters on the steps of Towne’s Senate building in Port
Howard. “It is men like him, and his vision for a brighter, more self-reliant tomorrow,
that will carry us through this new dark age.”
Towne Log
+ Funny. Nobody bothers to mention what happens to all those MUSInc customers if
the area gets hit with a particularly nasty series of big storms, eh? I’m sure they've
thought about capacitor-storage in case there’s a rainy day or two, but I’d hate to see
how a solar power grid will hold up after a week under storm clouds. :- Synnik
+ I was wondering the same thing myself, especially with such a centralized facility--
though it sounds like it’ll be HUGE. I would think it would be smarter to spread out a
bunch of smaller solar panel posts throughout the continent; that way, a single week-
long rainstorm won’t black out the whole coastline. :- RepMan
+ Inefficient, RepMan. Have to lay too many lines and send employees all over
creation to keep them running. :- Teknofile
+ Wouldn't it be simpler to just build a fusion plant or two? I mean, sure, the eco-
freaks will be all over the supposed long-term mutating effects of nuclear power, but
at least a few of those babies can power a whole continent and run through a heavy
blizzard. :- RepMan
+ Those kinds of reactors wouldn’t just worry the eco-terrorists, RM. You’re also
facing the fact that such reactors can be used to produce weapon-grade material for
stuff like nukes and neutron bombs. After the Jihad, regulations clamped down tightly
on such tech, and since then it hasn't really been economically feasible to build--much
less maintain--one of those reactors. (Oh, and of course there’s the ultraslim chance
of a catastrophic meltdown that wipes out all life and civilization in a 50-kilometer
radius, but hey, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs for the next
five million years, right?) :- Teknofile
+ Spoken like a man worthy of that nickname, Tek. :- ROSmith
+ Thanks! I try! :- Teknofile
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT HOWARD--Koth province Senator Westley Branch and his Towne-First party
today heaped praise on the plans unveiled by Myers Universal Solutions, Incorporated
(MUSInc) to establish a solar energy complex in the Tahitian province on the Gherst
continent. MUSInc, a Kale Bay - based utilities and power technology development
firm, applied for a grant earlier this year under a recently enacted provision of the
Towne-wide Energy Development Bill, intended to encourage the development of
cheaper energy resources to support the planet’s increasing industrial activities.
“With luck, the investment our government makes today in MUSInc and its visionary
leader will pay dividends for centuries,” Branch told INN in a press conference.
“Today, some of our world’s best and brightest have stepped forward to carry us into
a future better prepared than ever. We can only hope that others will soon join them
and, in so doing, make Towne strong again.”
Augustus Myers, founder and CEO of MUSInc and an outspoken proponent of
Senator Branch’s Energy Conservation Bill, declared that his proposed complex, set to
begin construction in three months, would provide power to tens of thousands of
residents along Gherst’s eastern seaboard. The complex, which will occupy nearly six
square kilometers of the Shahiri Desert west of Kale Bay, will gather solar radiation--
particularly ultraviolet light--and convert it into clean, cheap, and usable electrical
power suitable for commercial and residential use. Initial costs to consumers
switching to solar power from conventional nuclear and fossil fuel sources, however,
are expected to run higher than the global average in order to offset the projected
expense of building and maintaining the gigantic array. Though reluctant to give hard
numbers, Myers says that rough projections indicate that enough reliable, clean energy
will be made available to over 70,000 commercial and residential customers.
“Over the long term,” Myers assured INN reporters, “our customers will see a drop
in energy prices as the Shahiri plant comes into its own and initial start-up costs are
covered. Even these costs can be offset, however, if the [Branch Energy
Conservation] bill passes.”
With a 300 percent boom to mining, processing, and manufacturing anticipated over
the next two years, the issue of global power needs has come to the fore. In the
planetary Senate, suggested approaches to handling the looming energy crisis have
ranged from a controversial tax-raising energy conservation bill, put forward by
Senator Branch, to a competing alternative offered by the Nationalist party that would
reduce the levies on off-world energy sources, such as petrochemicals and deuterium
fuels.
“At its heart, the debate boils down to isolationism versus alliance-building,” said
Wilhelm Gaytes, political science professor for the University of Towne in Port
Howard. “On the one hand, leaders like Branch advocate making Towne more self-
sufficient, seeing to its own energy needs in case The Republic fails to restore order
and the region plunges into further violence. On the other hand, those with faith that
The Republic will recover feel that resources are better spent keeping trade and
communication lines open with neighboring worlds.”
Myers maintains that the motivations of MUSInc are professional and ecological, not
political. “Though we certainly appreciate both sides of the current energy-control
debate, the truth is that there is an opportunity here that neither MUSInc or Towne as
a whole can ignore. Solar energy arrays run cleaner, and cheaper, than comparable
hydroelectric, geothermal, or even nuclear-based power plants. Whether ComStar
manages to turn all the lights back on and the Exarch once more manages to pull the
disparate elements of The Republic back under control, Towne must ensure that its
energy needs are met--and that is the very reason I founded this company.”
“Towne could use a few more forward-thinkers like Mr. Myers and his company,”
Senator Branch told reporters on the steps of Towne’s Senate building in Port
Howard. “It is men like him, and his vision for a brighter, more self-reliant tomorrow,
that will carry us through this new dark age.”
Towne Log
+ Funny. Nobody bothers to mention what happens to all those MUSInc customers if
the area gets hit with a particularly nasty series of big storms, eh? I’m sure they've
thought about capacitor-storage in case there’s a rainy day or two, but I’d hate to see
how a solar power grid will hold up after a week under storm clouds. :- Synnik
+ I was wondering the same thing myself, especially with such a centralized facility--
though it sounds like it’ll be HUGE. I would think it would be smarter to spread out a
bunch of smaller solar panel posts throughout the continent; that way, a single week-
long rainstorm won’t black out the whole coastline. :- RepMan
+ Inefficient, RepMan. Have to lay too many lines and send employees all over
creation to keep them running. :- Teknofile
+ Wouldn't it be simpler to just build a fusion plant or two? I mean, sure, the eco-
freaks will be all over the supposed long-term mutating effects of nuclear power, but
at least a few of those babies can power a whole continent and run through a heavy
blizzard. :- RepMan
+ Those kinds of reactors wouldn’t just worry the eco-terrorists, RM. You’re also
facing the fact that such reactors can be used to produce weapon-grade material for
stuff like nukes and neutron bombs. After the Jihad, regulations clamped down tightly
on such tech, and since then it hasn't really been economically feasible to build--much
less maintain--one of those reactors. (Oh, and of course there’s the ultraslim chance
of a catastrophic meltdown that wipes out all life and civilization in a 50-kilometer
radius, but hey, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs for the next
five million years, right?) :- Teknofile
+ Spoken like a man worthy of that nickname, Tek. :- ROSmith
+ Thanks! I try! :- Teknofile
| April 10, 3133 |