Image: Creative Commons under UnsplashArtificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm. New AI applications are announced daily. Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and many companies tout plans for artificial intelligence capabilities. But the AI revolution is bad news for global efforts to achieve net-zero emissions.The AI revolution is based on high-performance AI chips, which are capable of revolutionary levels of computer processing power and can sort through vast amounts of … [Read more...]
Carbon Language Global Error
Political and business leaders, educators, and the news media endlessly talk about “carbon.” Newscasters repeatedly warn about “carbon emissions” and “carbon pollution.” States and provinces announce “zero carbon” goals. The United Nations and environmental groups push for a “low-carbon” and a “carbon-neutral” society. But instead, they should all be talking about “carbon dioxide,” not carbon.Labeling carbon dioxide “carbon” is as foolish as calling salt “chlorine.” Carbon and carbon dioxide … [Read more...]
Green Hydrogen Needs Vast Subsidies
World leaders tout “green hydrogen” as an essential fuel in the renewable energy transition. Today, heavy industries use huge amounts of coal and natural gas to produce products needed by society. Governments propose to replace hydrocarbon fuels with hydrogen fuel, using hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies. But vast subsidies won’t be enough to overcome the insurmountable problems with green hydrogen fuel. Four big industries—ammonia, cement, plastics, and steel—are powered by natural … [Read more...]
New Book—Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure
Do you think that wind, solar, and batteries can replace the hydrocarbon fuels that power our modern industrialized society? A new book, Green Breakdown, shows why the Net Zero agenda—a forced transition to renewable energy—is costly, dangerous, and destined for failure. Using science, economics, and in-depth analysis, the book exposes the weaknesses in the planned green energy transition and predicts a coming renewable energy failure.Green Breakdown is a complete discussion of all facets of the … [Read more...]
The Great Wind and Solar Land Grab
Which is more environmentally friendly, an energy source that uses one unit of land to produce one unit of electricity or a source that uses 100 units of land to produce one unit of electricity? The answer should be obvious. Nevertheless, green energy advocates call for a huge expansion of wind, solar, and other renewables that use vast amounts of land to replace traditional power plants that use comparatively small amounts of land.Vaclav Smil, professor emeritus of the University of Manitoba in … [Read more...]
Surging New England Energy Prices: No Surprise
New England home heating and electricity prices are on the rise with no end in sight. Consumers paid record-high energy bills last winter, even though the winter was not unusually cold. Shortages of natural gas and green energy policies will drive New England prices higher and raise the chance of electricity blackouts. Residential energy bills in New England this year were the highest in history. The combination of electricity and natural gas heating bills exceeded $1,000 per month for an … [Read more...]
The Practical Impossibility of Large-Scale Carbon Capture and Storage
The Environmental Protection Agency is working on a new rule that would set stringent limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from US power plants. Utilities would be required to retrofit existing plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology or to switch to hydrogen fuel. Others call for the use of CCS to decarbonize heavy industry. But the cost of capture and the amount of CO2 that proponents say needs to be captured crush any ideas about feasibility.Carbon capture and storage is … [Read more...]
Those Attacks on Gas Stoves Aren’t Really about Health
Image: Creative Commons under UnsplashEarlier this year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that indoor gas stoves emitted harmful pollution. Several studies claim that the use of gas can cause respiratory illness. The CPSC is considering restrictions on gas stoves, including possible bans in new residential construction. But attacks on gas stoves are based on questionable science and are largely driven by concerns not related to health.The CPSC has reportedly been … [Read more...]
Get Ready for Higher Electricity Bills to Fund Vehicle Charging
Charging at home is a favored feature of electric vehicles (EVs). But public charging stations are needed for long trips and to maximize EV market penetration. However, it’s unlikely that charging fees can cover the capital and operating costs of public chargers or make money for investors.Image: Creative Commons under UnsplashAccording to Kelly Blue Book, Americans purchased more than 800,000 new electric cars last year, or about 5.8 percent of all new cars sold. EV sales grew by 65 percent … [Read more...]
California: Atmospheric River and Misguided Climate Fear
For more than three weeks earlier this year, California was pummeled by a series of storms arriving one after another from the Pacific Ocean. Torrential rains, mudslides, power outages, and floods plague state residents from north of San Francisco down to Los Angeles, four hundred miles to the south. Scientists attribute this event to an “atmospheric river” condition in the Pacific Ocean. Many also claim that this phenomenon is due to human-caused climate change.According to the National Oceanic … [Read more...]
