On Fox News Sunday with Mike Wallace June 4, former Vice President Al Gore said solar energy has created jobs 17 times faster than the U.S. economy as a whole. He also pointed out that solar now employs more people than coal. He saw those both as reasons to celebrate. The truth is the opposite. Why? Because solar jobs are a tragic waste of human labor. Gore's right that solar employs more than coal now---roughly twice as many. At the end of 2016, solar employed about 374,000, while … [Read more...]
Why Do Taxpayer-Subsidized Businesses So Often Fail?
Subsidize renewable energy? What a great idea! If you like wasting money. SunEdison, which once described itself as the "largest global renewable energy development company" and was America's fastest-growing renewable energy company, filed for bankruptcy April 21. It seems that $1.5 billion combined subsidies and loan guarantees (including $650 million in grants and tax credits---i.e., outright handouts) wasn't enough to make up for the combination of hubris-driven over-expansion, … [Read more...]
How Economically Competitive is “Renewable Energy”?
Condemnation's always most credible when issued by a supporter. That's what the renewable energy sector got from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards 2016 Annual Status Report, which states right in its highlights: "More than half of all growth in renewable electricity (RE) generation (60%) and capacity (57%) since 2000 is associated with state RPS requirements." In short, non-hydro renewable energy---wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass---cannot … [Read more...]
Did You Want Electricity with Your Fried Eagle?
Let's see now. The controversial Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, financed with $1.5 billion in federal loans, using sunlight reflected from 170,000 mirrors to heat boilers atop 450-foot-high towers, received on average $200 per megawatt-hour during summer months and $135 for the rest of the year but is likely to go bust. Meanwhile, PG&E pays $57 per megawatt-hour for power generated by more conventional solar plants, and $35 per megawatt-hour for power generated by natural gas … [Read more...]
A Christian’s Perspective on Climate Change: Conventional Energy Sources Are Necessary for Developing Nations’ Poor
Global warming has been making headlines consistently during the past two decades. The subject impacts global economic policies and thereby our everyday lifestyle. Amidst the smoke in the battleground arises the moral call of Christians to function as responsible stewards of creation. But how does climate change impact the marginalized of the world? What can we, as followers of Christ, do for the environment and the poor? The recent developments at the Paris climate change conference saw … [Read more...]
Getting a Grasp on Grid Reliability Issues with Wind and Solar
Critics of calls for rapid replacement of coal and natural gas with wind and solar to power the grid often argue that the intermittency of wind and solar destabilize the electrical power grid, making brownouts and blackouts, which are costly and often life threatening, more likely. The basic point is that simple to make, but its explanation and support are more difficult. A new post at Judith Curry's Climate Etc. blog, by a guest author identified simply as "Planning Engineer," develops the … [Read more...]
India Dances toward Paris
India last week announced its "climate action plan" in preparation for December's climate summit in Paris, and the featured points grabbed the world's attention: 40% increase of "clean [i.e., CO2-free] energy" by 2030; reduced CO2 "emission intensity" by 33% from 2005 levels by 2030; calling for wealth countries of the West to help it meet the costs of these efforts. That last point is the one to be taken most seriously. As for the first two, well, there's lots of smoke and mirrors, but … [Read more...]
