American Thinker: Wind and solar electricity are renewable energy. How nice to pluck energy out of the air and the sky.
It’s a scam. Big money men and screwball dreamers, otherwise called environmentalists, are behind the scam.
Apparently, it has not dawned on the believers in the scam that solar does not work at night, and wind works only when the wind is blowing. The core characteristic of wind and solar is that they are erratic sources of electricity. The supply is randomly intermittent. Who in Hell thinks this dumb energy is a good way to supply electricity?
The wind and solar promoters, in order to accommodate their dumb energy, demand that the electric grid be re-engineered to become a “smart” grid. Perhaps the idea is that if the grid is smart enough, the dumb energy will be canceled by the smart grid. That’s actually what the smart grid people have in mind. The smart grid is supposed to be agile enough to fill in the gaps when the wind or solar is playing hooky.
The intellectual mind values an elegant theory over a messy reality. The result is tension between ivory tower thinkers and practical men working in the trenches of the economy. The practical men easily see the weaknesses in abstract theories, weaknesses that are invisible to the ivory tower thinkers. But the practical men are not equipped to assert or defend their reality in political, media, or academic circles. If they try, they are patronized and ignored. A seductive theory trumps pedestrian and annoying facts in the intellectual mind. For this reason, ridiculously impracticable renewable energy finds wide support in academic, environmental, and government circles – circles populated by thinkers accustomed to mobilizing the power of the state to promote impractical ideas with the taxpayers’ money. For these thinkers, evidence that contradicts their beliefs must be bad evidence. MORE
I would make a comment but it has been cloudy around here lately andr
If all wind turbines were setup in Chicago, the entire country would be provided unlimited energy from politicians.
You just read the story of my technical
career & life.Ivory Tower Cubicle Squatters
%ucked with me my entire life.Pure no-nothing
assholes…
For millions of Joe Sixpacks;
Until they get the tech cheap,
durable and with batteries that
are the same it’s indeed a scam.
Utility load managers love nukes for base line loads.
Flip the switch and their output is 100% for 18 to 24 months.
Renewables are a nightmare for them, but the gov’t mandates that the power produced must be bought first. Just because the wind is blowing doesn’t mean power is generated. Too much wind and they shut down or burn up.
Solar and wind power are feasible on an individual basis for home and business. It is not feasible for giant government “Green Energy”. Mostly because in that end of it, fraud and corruption are rampant.
In 1983 I developed a solar water heating system that was able to heat water hot enough to use as hot water baseboard sufficient to heat any size home. This was accomplished by replacing the water with a mix of water and a chemical that I bought in 55 gallon drums, from……..NASA. NASA powers their satellites with solar using this chemical and the chemical is cheap. we sold lots of systems to car washes and laundromats as well as personal homes.
Solar is expensive, no question. What makes it feasible, then and now is Federal and State tax plans.
As to solar electricity, this also is feasible and there are a lot of people using solar electric 100% to power their homes and ranches. Again, tax credits help. But even with tax credits, the cost is more than getting your power from the local electric company. BUT, not everybody can get power from local electric companies.
It is expensive, but the technology is real. To power a 3,000 sq ft home may cost $50,000 or more to install solar electric. Amortize that over 10 years and it is clear that local power companies are much cheaper. But again, what if you can’t get power in a remote location? You at least have the option to get solar.
And with time, the costs will come down, as with all “new” technology.
The writer of this article is similar to the guys who told the Wright brothers, “If God meant for man to fly, he would have given us wings.” Or, about automobiles, “There is no earthly reason to go faster than 35 MPH.” or, the head of the US Patent office in 1901 saying, “We don’t need a patent office. Everything that can be invented has already been invented.”
If you have the money and the need, solar and wind power is feasible. Ranches and homes all over the world have been bringing water from deep underground to the surface with windmills, for at least 150 years or more..
The writer of this article has no facts, no evidence to back up his clams. Typical liberal, no facts, just name calling insults.
To make it clear, oil and gas are still the most reliable and affordable suppliers of heat and energy.
But what if there is no access to local power?? Then what do we do?? Sit around and bitch?
Exactly right Mark. Also every house in Israel has solar panels to heat water and has for quite a while.
Rule 1 – If the government has to subsidize it, it is probably a bad idea.
Nobody any more does Cost analysis which shows Solar/Wind is much much more expensive than coal/gas/oil/hydro/nuclear over time. Nobody even tells you how often you have to clean solar panels which in some places degrade as much as 50% in just hours each day.