“Energy density is the silliest of all. Yours is ‘dense’ energy that we have to pay for, every day, forever, except that it eventually runs out, vs. energy that arrives for free, forever, and never runs out.” (Bryan, below)
“Perhaps wind and solar are not renewable energies because usable surface area is finite and the infrastructure otherwise wears out–or the technology is too expensive to even compete as a ‘nonrenewable.’ Solar is not ‘renewable’ for many hours of the day, right? Wind too.” (Bradley, below)
The term resourceship has been coined to understand why ‘depletable’ resources can an do expand over time. In fact, when it comes to oil, gas, and coal, such expansion has been for all time. Only nationalization, price controls, and other destructive government policies can reverse the natural progress of human ingenuity applied to minerals (as to non-minerals) in the real world.
…“Capitalism turns luxuries into necessities. Socialism turns necessities into luxuries.”
“What did socialists use before candles? …. Electricity”
These are just funny jokes until a scenario unfolds where a huge lifestyle disruption lurks for you, your family, friends, and most everyone else.
Matt Ridley of the UK is there. And the notable classical-liberal thinker and writer is steamed about it.
Energy crises should be a thing of the past, the West having painfully learned to avoid the price and allocation controls that cause physical shortages and fuel riots.
Now, energy crises occur in the name of “green” energy policies that force inferior energies on the power grid–and discourage or prohibit the fossil fuels from doing their yeoman work. Consumers lose. Businesses lose. Taxpayers lose. A small intellectual and political elite win.
…It is past time that Wiki correct a significant factual error and tone down the bias of its entry for The Institute for Energy Research. I and others have failed to persuade them. This post is dedicated to the same attempt at fairness.
In my social media discussions and debates, my opponents do a quick check on the Institute for Energy Research (IER) to fire back at my criticisms. One from this week follows, an exchange prompted by a mention of “Deadwood Releasing 10.9 Gigatons of Carbon Every Year – More Than All Fossil Fuel Emissions Combined“:
Bradley: Leave fossil fuels alone then…. Energy density is key.
Paul Bryan: EXACTLY the fallacious argument that the propaganda was designed to promote. Well done! But hardly surprising coming from IER:
“IER is often described as a front group for the fossil fuel industry. It was initially formed by Charles Koch, receives donations from many large companies like Exxon, and publishes a stream of reports and position papers opposing any efforts to control greenhouse gasses.” – Wikipedia Entry for IER
Bradley: First, why ad hominem?
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