Renewables may feel good, too bad they don’t work

By Ronald Stein | September 19th, 2019 | Energy | 5 Comments

The “green magic transition” may be the greatest con job in history.

Despite the hype over the ever-increasing connected capacity at wind and solar farms worldwide, none, yes, let me repeat that, none have replaced any of the hydro, natural gas, coal, or nuclear generating plants that are providing continuous and uninterruptable electricity to people and businesses around the world.

Solar may work occasionally at homes and businesses as a source for supplemental intermittent electricity to lower daily demand from the grid, but they’re still connected to a reliable source for continuously and uninterruptable power. We all know, if the sun is not shinning, their only source of electricity are the power generating plants feeding the grid even with the burgeoning mass storage technology popping up in the most auspicious places.

It’s not that we’re not trying to tap into the emission free electricity provided by Mother Nature, but wind and sunshine are too intermittent. They are not the panacea. They come with their own ills.

With the success the green movement has had on stymying nuclear, it’s now attracting big oil companies to invest huge sums into the renewables craze.

There are three main reasons for that kind of investment from “big oil” into renewables.

• First, it’s a great public relation move.
• Second, it’s a fantastic business investment, as every wind and solar site generating intermittent electricity needs a natural gas backup generating plant to provide continuous and uninterruptable electricity.
• Third, if they fail, the government incentives are “no take back” guarantees and the loss is a tax write off. So, they basically get to dabble for free..........To Read More....

Apply the brakes to electric vehicles

By Peter Murphy |  September 19th, 2019| Energy | 11 Comments

 

Probably everyone can remember owning their first car; the make, model, year, color, and a host of other trivial details. It is a special moment. It’s personal. It’s a choice.

With the exception of a sliver of this country, Americans do not want  electric cars.  Electric vehicles should remain a choice, not a government incentive or a mandate that is demanded by the Green movement.  A mass expansion of electric vehicles also brings with it numerous concerns.

Americans own or lease lots of cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles. There are an estimated 276 million such vehicles on the road in the United States.  In 2018, Americans purchased more than 17 million vehicles, among which 2 percent were electric.

Climate change activists and most left-of-center politicians want to force-feed electric vehicles on the American public. Every proposed version of the Green New Deal has electric vehicles as one of its centerpieces. The proponents imagine if there were no gasoline-powered automobiles, only electric, there would be far less need for fossil fuel extraction. Thus, the floods would recede, the planet cooled, and so on. This is fantasy........To Read More....