Ed. note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.
Greed Energy Economics:
*** Full Cost of Electricity “FCOE” and Energy Returns “eROI”
*** It is time to replace LCOE
*** Indiana says converting 1,052 MW of coal to gas will be $381M cheaper than renewables and storage
*** $3.8 Trillion of Investment in Renewables Moved Fossil Fuels from 82% to 81% of Overall Energy Consumption in 10 Years
Renewables (General):
*** Renewable energy is a failed path, scientist tells Utah legislators
*** Reliability is Key to a Successful Energy Transition
*** Grid Grief: Ideologues Refuse to Acknowledge the Big Problem!…
“… global commodity price increases … sharp and sudden increases in interest rates, prolonged supply chain constraints, and persistent inflation have significantly increased the expected cost of constructing the project.”
Electricity rates are going up because of wind, solar, and batteries being forced upon, and duplicating, the grid. Reliability is going down because of wind and solar intermittency. And higher interest rates are (further) ruining the economics of the infrastructure-heavy, up-front capital necessary to turn “free” wind and solar into electricity.
It’s a perfect storm that might just overcome the taxpayer largesse of the federal subsidies (DOE and IRS) and rate averaging for captive ratepayers. With offshore wind experimental and extra-uneconomic, the worst can be assumed.
An October 30, 2022, article by Colin Young, “Major Massachusetts offshore wind project no longer viable,” explains the fluid situation.…
“A renowned environmental activist has a stern warning for politicians and global leaders if they fail to act on climate change. ‘There are going to be pipelines blowing up if our leaders don’t pay attention to what’s going on,’ David Suzuki told CHEK News on Saturday without elaborating further.”
A scary fellow is in the news. “David Suzuki is retiring from The Nature of Things to focus on activism and calling out ‘BS'”, the headline states. “86-year-old TV host fears environmental movement has failed, but he won’t give up.”
That is about the nicest way to describe this Canadian Paul Ehrlich. “After 44 years of hosting CBC’s The Nature of Things,” Jaela Bernstien of CBC News reports:
…David Suzuki’s tenure will be coming to an end. While the upcoming season will be his last, that doesn’t necessarily mean the public will see or hear less from the iconic — and sometimes controversial — Canadian environmentalist.”