References to climate change almost guarantee funding, even for research topics of little interest beyond academia and eco-activists. Polls reveal that most people worry most about energy and food prices, crime, living standards, Putin’s war on Ukraine, and increasing efforts to control their lives. A recent study by Rutgers University scientists sought to determine how much diversity […]
Real Threats to Biodiversity and Humanity Learn More »
Nuclear engineer James H. Rust, over at the Heartland Institute, has just posted a clear, concise, factual piece refuting the claim that there’s a “dirty war” to stop expansion of solar energy in the United States. I won’t get into the stuff about the “dirty war”—which is entirely bogus, and Rust demonstrates just why—but thought it
Why Can’t Solar Provide Abundant, Affordable Electricity? Learn More »
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)
Why Do Taxpayer-Subsidized Businesses So Often Fail? Learn More »
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
How Economically Competitive is “Renewable Energy”? Learn More »
In an interview published in The Atlantic, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates had two very astute observations about wind and solar energy: On the limits of wind power and solar photovoltaic cells: Wind has grown super-fast, on a very subsidized basis. Solar, off a smaller base, has been growing even faster—again on a highly subsidized basis.
Bill Gates Gets It on Wind and Solar Learn More »
Rud Istvan has a very instructive article at Judith Curry’s Climate Etc. blog about the challenges of bring wind and solar power into use through electricity grids. Bottom line: Their intermittency greatly increases the costs of electricity while reducing its reliability, bringing threats to people’s health and safety wherever they begin to make up a significant
