June 13, 2011 by Walter Schneider.

Some recent energy articles of interest

By John Droz, Jr.

An interesting article appeared in a wind industry trade journal: “Is Wind Energy The New Wedge Issue For Conservatives?”
( http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.7757 ).

Some of the comments are: “The acrimony is being powered by a combination of small-government conservatives who see wind and other renewables as a waste of money and by others who consider wind a technology that will never be as effective as oil, coal or natural gas.” In other words people are objecting to wind energy as it is expensive and ineffective. Imagine that!

And there is this from the comptroller of Texas (a very pro-wind state): “wind is an expensive boondoggle that does not produce jobs”.

Note that the industry does not respond with proof that these positions are wrong, but rather tries to dismiss them as being political…
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A wonderful assessment of wind energy by an energy expert http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/05/26/fitting-wind-onto-the-electricity-grid-part-2/ .

A VERY promising development where New Jersey is dropping out of the RGGI program http://www.atinstitute.org/ati-statement-on-gov-chris-christies-plans-to-remove-new-jersey-from-rggi/ . Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to the other member states.

Renewables Laws Changing is a positive development compared to the prior RPS mandates
http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/11/05/renewables-laws-changing .

Some good comments by the governor of Maine about a more sensible position on renewables
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/column/columnpost/weekly-radio-address/400386 .

A new MIT study has some unique perspectives on the economics of wind energy http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/6317 .

“Oil ‘subsidy’ and ‘tax breaks’ nonsense” gives a superior overview to this contentious issue:
http://familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9598/pub_detail.asp

“The Politics of Alternative Energy 1: The Myth of Viable Industrial-scale Renewable Energy”:
“‘Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.’ Winston Churchill’s dictum could have been coined for the green advocates of the renewable energy revolution; a revolution that demonstrates a thorough-going disconnect between the political rhetoric and a grasp of the physics and economics vital to energy realism.” http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/7616/The-Politics-of-Alternative-Energy-1–The-Myth-of-Viable-Industrial-scale-Renewable-Energy

“Inconvenient Truths about Renewable Energy”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703421204576327410322365714.html?KEYWORDS=energy#printMode .

Another Real Estate professional speaks out saying that wind projects can bring down home values 25 to 40 percent — for as much as 2 miles away: http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/news_item.php?NewsID=35521 .

In a fascinating development a Spanish judge orders a wind project to be dismantled
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/05/18/wind-farm-ordered-dismantled/ .

“NY Wind: Much Ado About So Little” http://www.windaction.org/faqs/31912 .

One of the key facts to focus on is that there is no such thing as wind energy by itself. This article makes that very point
http://canadianenergyissues.com/2010/12/11/wind-power-is-gas-power-and-comes-with-pollution/ .

The Australian government is revisiting the wind acoustic issue. The good news is that some of the presenters at their discussion are actually qualified scientists who contend that there are serious human consequences to wind development. See http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/news/2011/june-6-2011-645-pm-ny-city-time/ .

Green Energy costs 1500 jobs http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/247946/EU-push-for-green-energy-costs-another-1-500-jobs .

Why do we need to choose between nuclear and renewables — we don’t:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/may/27/why-choose-nuclear-renewable-energy .

“Everything you’ve heard about fossil fuels may be wrong” talks extensively about wind energy
http://www.salon.com/news/env/energy/?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/31/linbd_fossil_fuels .

A good letter about Yucca mountain and the US economic benefits of nuclear energy http://tinyurl.com/3pcmyrk .

Some recent global warming articles of interest —

“Former ‘alarmist’ scientist says Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) based in false science”
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/05/15/former-alarmist-scientist-says-anthropogenic-global-warming-agw-based-on-false-science/ .

“Germany’s green government advisors admit frankly that decarbonization can only be achieved by the limitation of democracy - both nationally and internationally.” http://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/article13396336/Wir-rutschen-Hals-ueber-Kopf-in-die-Oekodiktatur.html .

A fine discussion of Patrick Moore and the religion of environmentalism
http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2011/5/the-personal-costs-of-spurning-green-misanthropy .

“The Global Warming Doctrine is Not a Science” (Vaclav Klaus): http://www.klaus.cz/clanky/2830 .

Thank you for your support.

john droz jr.,
physicist & environmental advocate

Posted in Electric Energy Prices, The New World Order, Energy Newsletter, Energy Issues, Alternative Energy Sources, Fines & Penalties, Climate Change, Community & Industry | Print | No Comments »

May 20, 2011 by Walter Schneider.

Some recent energy articles of interest

By John Droz, Jr.

In a shockingly honest assessment, the head of the NYS agency promoting offshore wind, now publicly admits that it’s a bad idea:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110503/NEWS01/105030346/Michael-Townsend-doubts-viability-offshore-wind-farms

A fine list that dispels the myths about the “anti-wind” campaign http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/print-friendly/33662

An extremely pertinent report is this worldwide study comparing energy use to several other important matters (e.g. infant mortality rate, GDP, literacy rate, etc.) http://www.aeaiinc.com/reports/Energy_and_Country_Instability.pdf

A Spanish community voted to pass a “visual impact” tax on wind turbines (1.6% of their generated income) http://www.windpowermonthly.com/News/MostRead/1061498/Spanish-region-imposes-visual-impact-tax-turbines/

Wind Power’s Promises Gone Awry, written by a NY physicist http://www.empirepage.com/2011/4/26/promises-and-predictions-gone-awry

A new book “The False Promise of Green Energy” http://www.cato.org/store/books/false-promise-green-energy

Obama on Energy: Inconsistent, Incoherent http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/7290/Obama-on-Energy-Inconsistent-Incoherent

Very promising news: government financial support of Cape Wind project now in doubt
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110513/NEWS11/110519876

The official UK’s government’s climate advisory panel (made up mostly of environmental activists) recently concluded that building nuclear was the way to go: http://tinyurl.com/3s6ydep

A reasonable discussion of nuclear radiation, written by an environmentalist
http://www.marklynas.org/2011/03/the-dangers-of-nuclear-power-in-light-of-fukushima/

A good article, with graphics, about Small Modular Reactors http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/small-modular-reactors-smaller-and-cheaper/.

Other worthwhile discussions of the same topic

• http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/the-new-debate-fukushima-and-small-modular-nuclear-reactors/73084/
• http://alfin2300.blogspot.com/2011/04/can-small-modular-nuclear-reactors-save.html
• http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/The-Future-of-Nuclear-Energy-Small-Modular-Nuclear-Reactors.html

“Lots of Dirty Things Have To  Happen to Make Clean Energy” touches on some of the environmental downsides of wind energy
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/05/ron-arnold-lots-dirty-things-have-happen-make-clean-energy

Some recent global warming articles of interest

George Manbiot is one of the leading environmentalists on the planet. Recently he wrote two introspective columns about the environmental movement, and how it has gone wrong. For an environmentalist, he makes some amazingly candid observations:

part 1 http://www.monbiot.com/2011/05/02/the-lost-world/

part 2 http://www.monbiot.com/2011/05/05/our-crushing-dilemmas/

In my view, the main failing of his commentaries is that he doesn’t see the solution. It’s this:

Any and all environmental solutions must be truly SCIENCE-based. To date they have instead been POLITICAL agendas.  If the environmental movement adopted real science (not things like consensus science) then environmental progress would happen.

A fine article about AGW and the Scientific Method http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2011/04/scientific-method

All you need to know about AGW http://www.theblogofrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/global-warming-cartoon-the-rent-seekers-dream-come-true1.jpg

“The Ten Major Failures of Consensus Science” http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/originals/10_major_consensus_failures.pdf

A new good website about the fallacy of AGW  http://www.galileomovement.com.au

Thank you for your support.

john droz jr.,

physicist & environmental advocate

Posted in Energy Newsletter, Propaganda debunked, Energy Issues, Alternative Energy Sources, Climate Change | Print | No Comments »

April 27, 2011 by Walter Schneider.

The Stuart Young wind report, partly funded by the environmental organization  John Muir Trust, is another item you should add as an objective source of information that is critical of wind energy ( http://www.jmt.org/news.asp?s=2&nid=JMT-N10561 ). It shows, yet again, that wind energy is a high cost, low benefit option, and that industry claims are rarely met. Kudos to the John Muir Trust which has been a rare voice of reason in the cacophony of self-serving political noise coming from the environmental community.

_________________
Note by folc.ca: The cited report states: “At the end of the period studied, the connected capacity of wind power was over 2500MW so the expectation is that the wind network will produce, on average, 750MW of energy. In fact, it’s delivering far less than everyone’s expectations. The total wind capacity metered now is 3226MW but at 3a.m. on Monday 28th March, the total output was 9MW.”

That is born out by similar observations in Alberta.  For instance, during much of the cold spell during the week of Feb. 27 - Mar. 5, 2011, a week during which record cold temperature occurred in Alberta, of the nominal wind-power generating capacity of 777MW in Alberta, 0MW to 2MW were being produced.

You can observe current wind power generation in Alberta.

“A Reality Check for Wind Energy Investors” is a good article written by an energy experienced attorney and CPA. Read through the comments and his good responses to those: http://seekingalpha.com/article/262050-a-reality-check-for-wind-power-investors.

“Major wind farm canceled over FWS bird strike concerns”

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/06/xcel-windpower-dispute/

A good (very short) New Scientist video about how turbines kill bats http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRqu4WiLQfk&hd=1. Combine that with this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8419796/Wind-turbines-hit-bat-populations.html.

What happens when fantasies like wind energy collide with reality? http://tinyurl.com/3ua72xe.

Two more states’ RPS mandates have been studied and found seriously wanting:

1 - Ohio http://www.atinstitute.org/study-ohio’s-alternative-energy-mandates-will-keep-its-economy-in-a-slump/, and

2 - Minnesota http://www.atinstitute.org/study-minnesota’s-renewable-energy-mandate-will-damage-state-economy-with-little-to-no-benefit-to-environment/.

A very worthwhile radio interview with activists in Minnesota http://tinyurl.com/3u494h7.

An interesting article about how wind turbines are no longer all the rage in [the Netherlands] http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2011/04/trouw_wind_turbines_unpopular.php.

This is very good news, from a credible source: “The US Will Build Five Nuclear Reactors by 2020”  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-04/u-s-may-build-five-new-nuclear-reactors-by-2020-new-energy-finance-says.html.

Some recent global warming articles of interest —

900+ Peer Reviewed Papers Supporting Skepticism about AGW http://www.populartechnology.net/2009/10/peer-reviewed-papers-supporting.html.

An organization’s commendable efforts to have constructive, non-partisan solutions to global warming and energy issues http://www.climatescienceinternational.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=380&Itemid=108.

“Research on Forecasting for the Manmade Global Warming Alarm” http://www.forecastingprinciples.com/images/stories/pdf/ags2011congress.pdf

Bill O’Reilly talks about proposed US government cuts, especially the money for “Climate Control” http://tinyurl.com/3rowyg3.

Supreme Court Hears the extremely important CO2 Emission Case http://tinyurl.com/3rwcdjw.

A recent article of general interest —

A short video talking about the debt situation with the US government http://www.youtube.com/embed/VtVbUmcQSuk

Thank you for your support.

john droz jr.,

physicist & environmental advocate

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