An Inconvenient Truth: Sustainable Energy Not All That Very Sustainable

TThe recent election of Barack Obama and the sweeping if ill-defined change that he is expected to usher into American affairs has had a highly invigorating effect on the apostles of “green” or “renewable” energy.

Notable commentator and energy policy non-expert Thomas Friedman recently published a book putting forth the claim (oversimplified here, but not overstated) that the US can restore its lost honor and save the world by adopting eco-friendly energy production. It is conventional wisdom that so-called “clean” or “green” energy sources will lead to the profound reduction of the harmful impact of human expansion by reducing the release of toxins into the atmosphere, the ground and water. The legions of believers who are clamoring behind this world view seem little troubled by the reality that many of the underlying claims are unverified, and altogether untroubled by the fact that just about none of this stuff actually works (yet). As a blog dedicated to the dissemination of information about the preservation of our delicate ecosystem it seems altogether appropriate that we set about debunking some of these myths, particularly in this moment of unbridled and uncritical euphoria.

Thomas Friedman on FOX news discussing the role of the environment in the Obama administration. Friedman claims America can regain its international stature by taking the lead in alternative energy and environmentalism. Video can be found here In recent months readers of these pages have encountered nifty inventions (or concepts) that were meant to pull computers off of the grid by powering them through keystrokes and miniature solar panels. On each occasion, in our discussion we noted how the amount of power actually generated by these inventions was substantially less than the power required under normal working conditions. At the same time we were prepared to cut them a lot of slack because they were prototypes or concepts, because they were so cool and original and because any kind of savings seems better than wanton consumption. But would you believe that in 2000 the state of California could no longer produce enough power to support its infrastructure, largely due to the fact that its political echelon has mandated an ever increasing proportion of power be generated by unproven and inefficient technologies?! Nuclear Power expert and proponent William Tucker swears it’s true . According to Tucker, none of the so-called renewable energy sources expected to be fast-tracked by an Obama administration- solar, wind- are capable of consistently delivering power to meet the needs of an industrialized civilization, no matter how much we wish they were. While the sources of the power are certainly renewable and sustainable, the supply of power so generated is anything but. For example, a wind generation facility that is expected (in California) to generate 100 MW of electricity (comparable to an average coal facility), given fluctuations in wind speed and problems with storage and transmission will (at best) consistently operate at a 30% peak efficiency to produce (on earth) 30 MW. Now your a/c is dead and your street lights don’t work. But poor arithmetic is not the worst problem with ill conceived alternative energy sources. The intuitively appealing notion that solar energy (from the sun!) and wind turbine energy (the wind!) are cleaner does not take into account the environmental costs involved in producing the necessary equipment which has still not been engineered to grow organically from seeds in the earth. In a blog entry suggestively titled “Global Warming Caused by Solar Panels ,” Luboš Motl translates into English the rather disturbing findings of one Alexander Ač to the effect that byproducts of the production of solar panels are 17,000 times (!) more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Similarly, we all remember how only last year it suddenly became apparent that the rush to mandate biofuel additives for gasoline caused global food shortage and threatened to hasten global warming through concomitant deforestation and the pollutants generated by corn farming. If we, as a civilization- as a species really wish to solve our planet’s problems, we will need to do so by taking a long, cold hard look at facts and not by indulging our utopian fantasies. Most important of all, we must not allow mass media, politicians and the nexus between them to influence our decisions on matters so grave as energy policy for our own and future generations. Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com By Steven Adams Product Content Manager for UsedCisco.com Sign up to receive the Green Your Network blog via email

RSS This Blog