A Free-Market Energy Blog

Peeling Away the Onion of Denmark Wind (Part I)

By Kent Hawkins -- October 26, 2010

[Editor’s note: This series is an extensive technical analysis of wind electricity in Denmark. The intent is to develop: (1) plausible conclusions without resorting to extensive mathematics (except that provided by others) , and (2) a framework within which to evaluate other claims of emissions relating to wind backup from fossil plants.]

According to wind proponents, Denmark is a model of wind energy use for electricity generation to be emulated. It is claimed or suggested that:

  • Denmark gets about 20% of its electricity from wind. [Note: This number is generation, not usage, which is a crucial distinction with negative implications for the wind lobby’s argument.]
  • Reduction in CO2 emissions is due in large part to increased wind electricity production.

These conclusions are superficial at best and invalid at worse.…

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Can the Endangered Species Act Compel America to Abandon Fossil Fuels?

By -- October 25, 2010

Can the Endangered Species Act (ESA) compel America to abandon fossil fuels?

My colleague William Yeatman alluded to this question last week after attending a symposium at the Heritage Foundation entitled, “Saving the Polar Bear or Obama’s CO2 Agenda?”

The short answer is yes and no. Yes, because once the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listed the polar bear as a “threatened species” on the supposition that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are melting the bear’s Arctic habitat, the ESA logically requires that people stop engaging in CO2-emitting activities. The potential for mischief is vast. Carbon dioxide emissions come from fossil energy use, which in turn derives from economic activity. There is hardly any economic activity in the modern world that does not, directly or indirectly, produce CO2 emissions. Hence, almost any economic activity can be deemed to threaten the polar bear and, thus, violate the Act!  …

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Dear Peak Oilers: Please Consider Erich Zimmermann’s ‘Functional Theory’ of Mineral Resources

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 22, 2010

“… knowledge is truly the mother of all resources.”

– Erich Zimmermann, World Resources and Industries (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1951), p. 10.

The peak oil movement, now trying to turn itself into a pro-government-intervention political movement, draws the wrong conclusion by logically progressing from the wrong assumption.

This post revisits this wrong assumption: fixity. From mineral fixity, it is concluded that every act of production and consumption leaves less supply. In this Harold Hotelling world, costs must go up and prices must go up….

But going from the natural science, perfect knowledge, hypothetical world to the real world, just the opposite is true. There is not a fixed supply, known or unknown, from which extractions leave less supply for the future. Costs do not have to go up, and neither do prices.…

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Free-Market Solar: The Real Opportunity (this solar executive tells the feds and Arizona to cool the subsidies)

By David Bergeron -- October 21, 2010
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Solar Cheaper than Grid Nuclear? Think Again!

By Daren Bakst and Carlo Stagnaro -- October 20, 2010
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The All-Electric Car: Think 132-Year Payback (DOE’s Sandalow shows us what not to do)

By Patrick Barron -- October 19, 2010
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AB 32’s “Political Symbolism with Consequences” (Will California vote for recovery?)

By Daniel Simmons -- October 18, 2010
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Food Miles: The Local Food Activists’ Dilemma (a global warming inconvenient truth)

By Pierre Desrochers -- October 15, 2010
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Offshore Wind: DOE’s Reality Challenge

By -- October 14, 2010
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Bingaman’s Renewable Energy Standard: Another Proposed Energy Tax

By Daren Bakst -- October 13, 2010
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