Energy Reality: The Stock Beats the Flow from the Sun (why technology struggles to save ‘renewables’)

By -- November 7, 2009 2 Comments

This article, “Energy to Spare” by David Warren, published in the Ottawa Citizen on November 4, 2009, says much in few words. Energy reality is that the sun’s work over the ages has produced energy sources (oil, gas, and coal) that far exceed the dilute energy from the sun. The stock beats the flow–by a country mile.

This article is reproduced below as a Weekend reading feature:

Will technology solve our energy problems? This seemingly fatuous question is actually stupider than first appears. For we already have the technology to power anything within reason, with minimal if any environmental fallout.

Yet under the inspiration of the Green Zeitgeist, I cannot go into a magazine shop without finding some science-lite cover story on new prospects for harnessing solar, thermal, wind, tidal, or whatever “renewable” forces.

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DOE Secretary Chu’s Convoluted Climate Economics

By -- November 5, 2009 8 Comments

Last week, at the first Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on S. 1733, the Kerry-Boxer “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act,” Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu explained the economic rationale for adopting a Kyoto-style cap-and-trade program.

His argument, in a nutshell, goes like this:

  1. Reducing emissions globally will require a massive investment in “clean technologies” — an estimated $2.1 trillion in wind turbines and $1.5 trillion in solar voltaic panels by 2030. These investments will create many green jobs.
  2. “The only question is — which countries will invent, manufacture, and export these clean technologies and which will become dependent on foreign products.”
  3. The United States is falling behind. “The world’s largest turbine manufacturing company is headquartered in Denmark. 99 percent of the batteries that power America’s hybrid cars are made in Japan.
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The Economics of Climate Change: Essential Knowledge

By Jerry Taylor -- November 4, 2009 6 Comments

The slow moving Senate debate over climate change offers an opportunity to revisit the fundamentals of climate change. While the physical science about natural and anthropogenic forcings is the place to start, the economics of climate change is highly relevant for the policy debate. In this regard,  a perfectly timed literature review in the Spring 2009 The Journal of Economic Perspectives is worth studying.

There have been 13 – count them, 13 – studies published in the peer reviewed literature that have wrestled with the economic implications of a doubling of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GhGs) on a CO2-equivalent basis.  Those 13 studies have yielded 14 estimates of what will subsequently happen to global GDP.  For those who are curious, 10 of those studies assume a subsequent warming of 2.5 C; two assume that a 1 C warming would follow; and two assume a 3 C warming would follow. …

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Industrial Wind Technology: Interview of Jon Boone by Allegheny Treasures

By Jon Boone -- October 31, 2009 14 Comments

Editor note: Jon Boone’s previous post on industrial wind parks led to this interview by Michael Morgan of Allegheny Treasures, an information resource dedicated to preserving the historic mountains of West Virginia and understanding the impact of industrial wind installations. 

Introduction: It’s been extremely difficult to bridge the gap that exists between those who know little about the issue and those who have a more comprehensive understanding of the workings of the electrical grid and the related technologies that supply it, like wind energy.  For many, their only information comes from the local press, “green” promotions by so-called environmental organizations, and occasional visits to web sites dedicated to one side or the other.  It’s often a mind-boggling quagmire!

The following conversation with Jon Boone, who now lives in Oakland, MD after a 30 year career at the University of Maryland, College Park, is an attempt to bridge that gap, perhaps allowing us to better understand the limitations of and problems associated with industrial wind technology.…

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Is Texas Governor Perry Off Climate Base? (Groupthink vs. Science Revisited)

By Chip Knappenberger -- October 28, 2009 5 Comments Continue Reading

Gas From Shale Deposits: A Worldwide Game-Changer? (Part II)

By Donald Hertzmark -- October 16, 2009 No Comments Continue Reading

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Me-Too Kyotoism (will he snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?)

By -- October 15, 2009 4 Comments Continue Reading

The Global Shale Gas Revolution (Dear Renewables: Meet the New Competition for Power Generation)

By Donald Hertzmark -- October 14, 2009 13 Comments Continue Reading

Windpower Is Not an Infant Industry!

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 13, 2009 10 Comments Continue Reading

High Capital Costs Plague Solar (RPS mandates, cost dilution via energy mixing required)

By Robert Peltier -- October 7, 2009 5 Comments Continue Reading