Solar: Thermal is better than panels

According to super-star venture capitalist Vinard Khosla (early investor in google, amazon, and AOL) we need to "stop playing with toys" such as wind, photovoltaics, biodiesel, and batteries. According to Khosla, "If you're not solving 50 per cent of the problem it's not material."

While I disagree that those technologies are toys, Khosla does back an interesting technology: solar thermal. Solar thermal can be cheaper and faster to manufacture than other technologies. Khosla even claims that it can be cost competitive with coal.

I say that any little bit helps. Unless you have the sway of a Khosla, you can't solve 50% of the problem. But we need to take a real look at our energy options, and not just the "sexy" solutions of fuel cells and solar panels.