The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science.

 It’s all spelled out at WiseEnergy.org, which is a wealth of energy and environmental resources.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every 3 weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

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Greed Energy Economics:

EROI — A Tool To Predict The Best Energy Mix

Pretenses of Offshore Wind Economic Viability “Blown Away”

Expert testifies about property devaluation due to wind turbine proximity

Wind & Solar are 16x more expensive than gas

U.N.…

Wind energy development in the United States has slumped. Despite record installations in 2012, and eking out a 1-year, $12 billion extension [1] of the wind production tax credit (PTC), new wind capacity last year fell to just 1,087 megawatts, a level not seen in more than a decade. Development in 2014 is showing signs of improvement, but the year may not fare much better.

The industry blames Congress and the uncertainty surrounding the PTC for the slowdown. But such thinking is overly simplistic and ignores the fundamental challenges facing big wind. This slump, like others that plagued development in prior years, can be traced directly to generous government assistance, current energy prices, and the inherent limitations of wind power.

Slowdown Reasons

The Section 1603 cash grants enacted under ARRA fueled a wind bubble as developers raced to build and qualify their sites.…

Last month, GE’s Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Bornstein,  complained that IRS rules defining ‘begin construction’ were still too vague and holding up delivery of 400 to 500 turbines. “We expect that clarification to come from the Treasury in the next week or two,” he said. “We’ve seen that clarification and we think it is helpful.”

And sure enough, GE got exactly what it wanted. Last week, the IRS delivered its third guidance document–and it’s troubling.

Despite eking out a one-year extension of the wind production tax credit (PTC) last year, only 836 MW of new wind was installed in the first six months of this year, the second lowest since 2008 (in 2013, a single two megawatt turbine was erected in Q1/Q2).

Yet surprisingly, with the PTC nominally expired not unlike in  2013, the industry is advertising 14,600+ MW of new wind under development, including 2,000 MWs added to the pipeline this year, after the PTC expired!…

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science. It’s all spelled out at WiseEnergy.org, which has a wealth of energy and environmental resources.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every 3 weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

—————————

Greed Energy Economics:

Brookings: Economically, Wind & Solar are Worst Options

Bill Gates: “I Used to Take Electricity for Granted”. No more.

Levelized cost of energy: A limited metric

Why “Green Energy” is Economic Nonsense

Solar (and Wind): Green for the Air, Filthy for the Grid

Solar power compared to some conventional sources

Rooftop Solar Leases Scaring Buyers When Homeowners Sell

Net Metering 101

Greenpeace: “a threat to national economic security”

France Proposes Substituting Unreliables for Nuclear

New Study: The Economic Impact of the Illinois RPS

Green-collar crime ~ carbon markets and financial crime risks

Houston man allegedly sold more than $29 million in fake renewable credits

Senator Manchin: Don’t renew wind tax credit (PTC)…