[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

The Overlooked Shell Company Operated By Epstein's Accomplices

Two thirds of all federal law enforcement funding in the United States for fiscal year 2025 is going to immigration and border enforcement

MAGA Protest

The Floodgates Are Breaking In Germany's Welfare State

“The government wants to make sure that that does not come out. A huge part of our political system is predicated on blackmail,”

You Know What Happens Next

Cash Jordan: Half-Built Tower Abandoned… as ICE Deports Entire ‘Migrant Workforce’

Heavy rainfall causes flash flooding Tuesday night, some cars stuck in high water on Chicago's West

Biden Doctor PLEADS THE FIFTH, Refuses To Testify To Congress, Biden Pardons ARE VOID

Joe Rogan says FBI director Kash Patel played him for a fool and maga for fools with the Jeff Epstein files

Elon's AI System "Grok" Went Rogue And Has Been SHUT DOWN in an Emergency!

Earthquake Swarms at One of the MOST DANGEROUS Volcanoes in the USA

Ben Shapiro Declares Epstein Case CLOSED: ‘Facts on the Ground Have Changed’

Iran receives 40 Chinese J10-C Fighter Jets

China’s Railgun Is Now Battle-Ready, Thanks to Nuclear Power

Chinese Hypersonic Advancements! Deadly new missile could decimate entire US fleet in 20 minutes

Iran Confirms Massive Chinese HQ 9 B Missile Deal

Why Is Europe Hitting 114°F And Still Rising?

The INCREDIBLE Impacts of Methylene Blue

The LARGEST Eruptions since the Merapi Disaster in 2010 at Lewotobi Laki Laki in Indonesia

Feds ARREST 11 Leftists For AMBUSH On ICE, 2 Cops Shot, Organized Terror Cell Targeted ICE In Texas

What is quantum computing?

12 Important Questions We Should Be Asking About The Cover Up The Truth About Jeffrey Epstein

TSA quietly scraps security check that every passenger dreads

Iran Receives Emergency Airlift of Chinese Air Defence Systems as Israel Considers New Attacks

Russia reportedly used its new, inexpensive Chernika kamikaze drone in the Ukraine

Iran's President Says the US Pledged Israel Wouldn't Attack During Previous Nuclear Negotiations

Will Japan's Rice Price Shock Lead To Government Collapse And Spark A Global Bond Crisis

Beware The 'Omniwar': Catherine Austin Fitts Fears 'Weaponization Of Everything'

Roger Stone: AG Pam Bondi Must Answer For 14 Terabytes Claim Of Child Torture Videos!


Science/Tech
See other Science/Tech Articles

Title: The Gas Is Greener
Source: NYT
URL Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/o ... bryce.html?_r=1&wpisrc=nl_wonk
Published: Jun 9, 2011
Author: ROBERT BRYCE
Post Date: 2011-06-09 11:40:00 by farmfriend
Ping List: *Agriculture-Environment*     Subscribe to *Agriculture-Environment*
Keywords: None
Views: 293
Comments: 10

The Gas Is Greener

By ROBERT BRYCE
Published: June 7, 2011

IN April, Gov. Jerry Brown made headlines by signing into law an ambitious mandate that requires California to obtain one-third of its electricity from renewable energy sources like sunlight and wind by 2020. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia now have renewable electricity mandates. President Obama and several members of Congress have supported one at the federal level. Polls routinely show strong support among voters for renewable energy projects — as long as they don’t cost too much.

But there’s the rub: while energy sources like sunlight and wind are free and naturally replenished, converting them into large quantities of electricity requires vast amounts of natural resources — most notably, land. Even a cursory look at these costs exposes the deep contradictions in the renewable energy movement.

Consider California’s new mandate. The state’s peak electricity demand is about 52,000 megawatts. Meeting the one-third target will require (if you oversimplify a bit) about 17,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity. Let’s assume that California will get half of that capacity from solar and half from wind. Most of its large-scale solar electricity production will presumably come from projects like the $2 billion Ivanpah solar plant, which is now under construction in the Mojave Desert in southern California. When completed, Ivanpah, which aims to provide 370 megawatts of solar generation capacity, will cover 3,600 acres — about five and a half square miles.

The math is simple: to have 8,500 megawatts of solar capacity, California would need at least 23 projects the size of Ivanpah, covering about 129 square miles, an area more than five times as large as Manhattan. While there’s plenty of land in the Mojave, projects as big as Ivanpah raise environmental concerns. In April, the federal Bureau of Land Management ordered a halt to construction on part of the facility out of concern for the desert tortoise, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Wind energy projects require even more land. The Roscoe wind farm in Texas, which has a capacity of 781.5 megawatts, covers about 154 square miles. Again, the math is straightforward: to have 8,500 megawatts of wind generation capacity, California would likely need to set aside an area equivalent to more than 70 Manhattans. Apart from the impact on the environment itself, few if any people could live on the land because of the noise (and the infrasound, which is inaudible to most humans but potentially harmful) produced by the turbines.

Industrial solar and wind projects also require long swaths of land for power lines. Last year, despite opposition from environmental groups, San Diego Gas & Electric started construction on the 117-mile Sunrise Powerlink, which will carry electricity from solar, wind and geothermal projects located in Imperial County, Calif., to customers in and around San Diego. In January, environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit to prevent the $1.9 billion line from cutting through a nearby national forest.

Not all environmentalists ignore renewable energy’s land requirements. The Nature Conservancy has coined the term “energy sprawl” to describe it. Unfortunately, energy sprawl is only one of the ways that renewable energy makes heavy demands on natural resources.

Consider the massive quantities of steel required for wind projects. The production and transportation of steel are both expensive and energy-intensive, and installing a single wind turbine requires about 200 tons of it. Many turbines have capacities of 3 or 4 megawatts, so you can assume that each megawatt of wind capacity requires roughly 50 tons of steel. By contrast, a typical natural gas turbine can produce nearly 43 megawatts while weighing only 9 tons. Thus, each megawatt of capacity requires less than a quarter of a ton of steel.

Obviously these are ballpark figures, but however you crunch the numbers, the takeaway is the same: the amount of steel needed to generate a given amount of electricity from a wind turbine is greater by several orders of magnitude.

Such profligate use of resources is the antithesis of the environmental ideal. Nearly four decades ago, the economist E. F. Schumacher distilled the essence of environmental protection down to three words: “Small is beautiful.” In the rush to do something — anything — to deal with the intractable problem of greenhouse gas emissions, environmental groups and policy makers have determined that renewable energy is the answer. But in doing so they’ve tossed Schumacher’s dictum into the ditch.

All energy and power systems exact a toll. If we are to take Schumacher’s phrase to heart while also reducing the rate of growth of greenhouse gas emissions, we must exploit the low-carbon energy sources — natural gas and, yes, nuclear — that have smaller footprints.

Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is the author, most recently, of “Power Hungry: The Myths of ‘Green’ Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future.” Subscribe to *Agriculture-Environment*

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.

#1. To: farmfriend (#0)

The "elites" and greenies really dont care about "renewable energy". What they want is LESS energy and an agrarian society (except for them, of course).
So they set unabtainable energy goals and wait for the blackouts that will result.
I guess we're supposed to just go along... but I rather like electricty.

Armadillo  posted on  2011-06-09   17:58:49 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Armadillo (#1)

I think of it in terms of money spent. With a little forethought you can cut your electric bill drastically. LED lightbulbs, while initially expensive, save a couple hundred per bulb over their 25 year lifespan. As well, I'm an audiophile, Redwine Audio sells a wonderful amp that runs on batteries and takes very little power to recharge. There are others as well. Better insulation, LCD TVs, Chest Freezer rather than an upright, etc., .... There are lots of ways to reduce your usage and thus the bill.

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-06-09   18:41:56 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Original_Intent (#2)

Radiant barrier paint, and proper insulation, has our electric bill down to $77 in 95-100 degree heat.

In full disclosure, we also replaced our 20+year old HVAC system with a 17 SEER, variable speed Trane system, which mainly runs on low speed.

It all subtracts from the bill each month.

Lod  posted on  2011-06-09   19:14:07 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 3.

#5. To: Lod (#3)

ion, has our electric bill down to $77 in 95-100 degree heat.

That is impressive, I believe you live around Austin, OMG the heat there.......

tom007  posted on  2011-06-09 19:29:29 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: Lod, 4um (#3)

Radiant barrier paint

Radiant barrier works good. I used radiant barrier foil when I built shop 2 last year. They make a radiant barrier OSB now. Saw it at Menard's a couple months ago. It's not much more costly than regular OSB, I think a couple bucks a sheet. Shop 2 never got below 40 last winter and stays pretty cool in the summer.

Esso  posted on  2011-06-09 22:52:16 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: Lod (#3)

Radiant barrier paint, and proper insulation, has our electric bill down to $77 in 95-100 degree heat.

I'm a lizard. I like warm weather - although I do feel it above 95, but it doesn't bother me that much. I don't do a lot of heavy work in the sun at that range though. However, I do get your point. By taking advantage of the technologies that are already available it is possible to keep the electric bills under control. I think part of the problem is that people got used to cheap electricity and the price has now slowly been ratcheted up on us.

Original_Intent  posted on  2011-06-09 23:04:20 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 3.

TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]