Imagine one of your kids freezing to death in your home. Eleven-year-old Cristian Pineda's mother found her son dead during the Texas blackout in February 2021. Or you have a power outage for three days, losing a couple of hundred dollars worth of food because your refrigerator didn’t work, as Michelle Jones did last summer. The food she had just bought to feed herself, her daughter, and her granddaughter spoiled without electricity. This is likely to become all too common … [Read more...]
U.S. Power Grid At Government-Induced Tipping Point
Modern society is heavily dependent on electric power. Our power systems were designed by competent engineers and operated by skilled staff, so until fairly recently people have generally been able to count on having electricity in their homes and businesses on demand, even during periods of extreme weather. Historically, the U.S. power grid has proven remarkably resilient. Sadly, as political considerations have increasingly trumped basic physics and engineering, electric power failures have … [Read more...]
Wary of the new green wave, India continues to increase its coal capacity
A steady stream of anti-fossil policies has been introduced across the world since the inception of Paris agreement in 2016. Be it the reduction in consumption of fossil fuels in some countries or the rapid increase in renewable installations across Europe and Asia, the changes forced by those policies have been quite tangible. There were some major exceptions to this movement. Trump’s stance against anti-fossil energy policies, Australia’s continued export of coal, India and China’s … [Read more...]
China Funds Africa’s Fossil Fuel Renaissance—To Africa’s and the World’s Peril
China is pushing major advances in Africa’s energy sector. It will inevitably use the African fossil fuel sector as security for its own future energy needs. The geopolitical consequences could be serious. Countries in Africa are in dire need of economic uplift for which a fossil-fuel supported energy sector is indispensable. In a world of growing opposition to fossil fuels, China has become Africa’s key fossil fuel enabler. Africa Must Move Forward, and Fossil Fuels Are an Absolute … [Read more...]
An Open Letter to John Kerry from People Living in Energy Poverty
Dear Mr. Kerry, I write to you from India, a country you visited recently. Before I share my thoughts about some of your policy recommendations to my nation, I would like to mention a small note: When you ran for President in 2004, your pictures appeared in the local newspapers in India. Sitting in a remote, underdeveloped part of southern India, as a young high school student I wanted you to win that year. You did not, but I was hopeful that you would make it big in politics, and you did! … [Read more...]
Environmental Activism as Carbon Imperialism: Nightmare for the Poor
Environmental activism can delay or even stop development projects in developing countries. Not all of it is wrong, but more and more of it is, especially concerning hydrocarbon-based power plants in developing (and developed) countries. I live in India. With a population of 1.3 billion, nearly 300 million live in poverty, excruciating poverty compared to Western living standards. India is in a race against time to achieve economic progress. In the past three decades its economy has grown … [Read more...]
Wind and solar dependency on fossil fuels is a fact we cannot ignore
Newly inaugurated President Joe Biden is moving forward with his Clean Energy Agenda. At the heart of the proposed energy transition plans is the assumption that wind and solar offer cleaner and greener energy than fossil fuels, thus saving the world from a potential climate disaster. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, tweeted on January 20, 2021, "The Senate Democratic majority will take up bold legislation to defeat the climate crisis by investing in clean … [Read more...]
The Myth of Glorious Renewables
We all love energy solutions that make life better. It is an undeniable fact that coal propelled the Industrial Revolution and led to the alleviation of poverty in the West. More recently, the oil reserves in the Middle East have made it one of the most economically developed regions in the world. Despite their continuous support to the global economy, these fossil fuel sources have now become unpopular among the climate-sensitive, anti-fossil fuel, green lobbyists and environmental … [Read more...]
Newsom vows to fast track toward Germany’s failed climate goals
He wants an electrical grid of intermittent electricity free of fossil fuels before 2045 California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Friday, September 11, that he is about to take one giant step toward following Germany’s failed climate goals, which should be a wake-up all for governments everywhere. Like Germany, California’s renewables are becoming an increasing share in intermittent electricity generation, but at a high cost. Power prices in Germany are among the highest in … [Read more...]
The Global Nuclear Push: Pathway to a Bright and Secure Energy Future
I believe the future of energy is nuclear. Many others do, too. Despite the unfounded fears surrounding their safety, almost all major economies in the world have embraced nuclear technology with both arms. Here is a look at the current nuclear energy scenario and recent developments that offer a hope of a bright and secure energy future. Nuclear Energy: Standing Tall and Strong In 2017, nuclear plants supplied 2,487 Terra Watt-hours (TWh) of electricity, constituting nearly 11 … [Read more...]
