Doomie. I was born and raised in Germany and while I‘m no journalist or writer myself, I believe this piece would be the perfect fit for the German public considering our great policies when it comes to energy over the last couple of years. Have you considered translating your pieces and making this one public?
Since I am a farmer, aged 85, I think I understand and comprehend the full benefit and necessity of the United States petroleum industry. As a young boy I watched just how hard my parents had to "slave" just to scratch out their hand to mouth living. Then WWII ended and they were able to buy tractors and machinery, they increased the acreage they farmed from 30 acres to 2500. I still remember the day when our first Farmall H tractor was delivered and Dad sold our six work horse teams. I am the last person to which you want to complain about petroleum.
Furthermore, in 1995 the ranch I live on, natural gas was discovered and my home is surrounded by 1000s of operating natural gas wells, complete with gas pipelines and compressor plants. However, our gas wells are slowly depleting and with the anti/ignorant US and State government legislation it will only be a few more years and this valuable resource will be history. By the way, I believe the quality of breathable air on my deck is some of the best in the world.
LCOE is garbage. Anyone (👋) that’s spent time procuring equipment and labor, and in a financial model, knows reported LCOEs never reflected reality in the Americas.
One interesting result of inflation in renewables has been the rapid rise in prices under PPAs. This is primarily driven by investors who can no longer justify waiting 25 years to get their money back before earning a return. Consumers and businesses will see higher electric prices as a result. Politicians will inevitably blame everything other than their uneconomic adoption of solar and wind for these problems.
May the Gods of Physics and the Economy have mercy on our folly!
Quite the discover that LCOE is a fraud. That's quoted until the cows come home by the wind industry (do we want them to come home with all that methane? Another day, another day).
It is true that there are not enough critical raw materials for all proposed large scale wind farms to have battery storage. But that does not mean that it should not be required as a condition of permitting. Large scale wind farms cause burdensome costs and instabilities on any grid. The developers should be required to offset those costs.
Not only is it tragic that offshore wind is leading to the death of great whales, but it may actually on net reduce carbon less than if the windmills were never built - even ignoring the carbon from windmill construction as whales are TREMENDOUS carbon sinks.
"The carbon capture potential of whales is truly startling. Whales accumulate carbon in their bodies during their long lives. When they die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean; each great whale sequesters 33 tons of CO2 on average, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries. A tree, meanwhile, absorbs only up to 48 pounds of CO2 a year."
More on the damage in Brazil because of wind farms, as if pushing jaguars and pumas to extinction is not bad enough:
"The wind power industry has doubled its capacity in Brazil since 2018, setting the country up to be the world’s fourth-biggest producer by 2027 behind China, the U.S. and Germany, according to the Brazilian Wind Power Association, an industry body."
"But by helping to solve one problem—climate change—the wind industry risks creating others, warn conservationists. Indigenous groups recently staged protests in Brazil over the installation of turbines on lands they say are rightfully theirs, while environmentalists have also raised concerns that wind farms installed on compacted sand dunes on the northern coast could have damaged underground water reservoirs".
Doomy, just found this. It is not just whales. In Brazil, jaguars and pumas are losing territory to wind farms. This is heart-breaking:
Quote: "Jaguars and pumas are facing extinction in the Caatinga, Brazil’s northeastern shrublands, as Europe and China pour investment into wind farms, puncturing the land with vast turbines that are scaring the animals away from the region’s scant water sources."
"Particularly sensitive to changes to their habitat, the jaguars and pumas abandon their lairs as soon as construction work on the wind farms begins, said Claudia Bueno de Campos, a biologist who helped found the group Friends of the Jaguars and has tracked the region’s vanishing feline population. They then roam vast distances across the dusty plains in search of new streams and rivers."
"The weakest perish along the way. Others venture closer to villages, where locals have started laying traps to protect their small herds of goats and sheep, often their only form of survival in this impoverished region."
Windbaggery
Doomie. I was born and raised in Germany and while I‘m no journalist or writer myself, I believe this piece would be the perfect fit for the German public considering our great policies when it comes to energy over the last couple of years. Have you considered translating your pieces and making this one public?
Cheers,
Seb
Since I am a farmer, aged 85, I think I understand and comprehend the full benefit and necessity of the United States petroleum industry. As a young boy I watched just how hard my parents had to "slave" just to scratch out their hand to mouth living. Then WWII ended and they were able to buy tractors and machinery, they increased the acreage they farmed from 30 acres to 2500. I still remember the day when our first Farmall H tractor was delivered and Dad sold our six work horse teams. I am the last person to which you want to complain about petroleum.
Furthermore, in 1995 the ranch I live on, natural gas was discovered and my home is surrounded by 1000s of operating natural gas wells, complete with gas pipelines and compressor plants. However, our gas wells are slowly depleting and with the anti/ignorant US and State government legislation it will only be a few more years and this valuable resource will be history. By the way, I believe the quality of breathable air on my deck is some of the best in the world.
Fabulous read if one of life’s greatest grifts.
I'll be happy to put my last 120 years of hydrocarbon progress up against your future 120 years of electric progress.
LCOE is garbage. Anyone (👋) that’s spent time procuring equipment and labor, and in a financial model, knows reported LCOEs never reflected reality in the Americas.
One interesting result of inflation in renewables has been the rapid rise in prices under PPAs. This is primarily driven by investors who can no longer justify waiting 25 years to get their money back before earning a return. Consumers and businesses will see higher electric prices as a result. Politicians will inevitably blame everything other than their uneconomic adoption of solar and wind for these problems.
May the Gods of Physics and the Economy have mercy on our folly!
Could you explain how the LCOE is calculated?
Don Quixote, what would you say? Are we tilting at windmills just like you?
Quite the discover that LCOE is a fraud. That's quoted until the cows come home by the wind industry (do we want them to come home with all that methane? Another day, another day).
Very informative piece.
Right on Doomy.
I've been reading. Also been chilling - watching uranium and, 🤞🏼, the next commodity wave.
It is true that there are not enough critical raw materials for all proposed large scale wind farms to have battery storage. But that does not mean that it should not be required as a condition of permitting. Large scale wind farms cause burdensome costs and instabilities on any grid. The developers should be required to offset those costs.
Not only is it tragic that offshore wind is leading to the death of great whales, but it may actually on net reduce carbon less than if the windmills were never built - even ignoring the carbon from windmill construction as whales are TREMENDOUS carbon sinks.
"The carbon capture potential of whales is truly startling. Whales accumulate carbon in their bodies during their long lives. When they die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean; each great whale sequesters 33 tons of CO2 on average, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries. A tree, meanwhile, absorbs only up to 48 pounds of CO2 a year."
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2019/12/natures-solution-to-climate-change-chami#:~:text=Whales%20accumulate%20carbon%20in%20their,of%20CO2%20a%20year.
I'd much rather but public moneys into whale husbandry efforts!
More fodder . . .
https://rbnenergy.com/when-the-wind-blows-potential-project-cancellations-highlight-difficulties-for-offshore-wind
More on the damage in Brazil because of wind farms, as if pushing jaguars and pumas to extinction is not bad enough:
"The wind power industry has doubled its capacity in Brazil since 2018, setting the country up to be the world’s fourth-biggest producer by 2027 behind China, the U.S. and Germany, according to the Brazilian Wind Power Association, an industry body."
"But by helping to solve one problem—climate change—the wind industry risks creating others, warn conservationists. Indigenous groups recently staged protests in Brazil over the installation of turbines on lands they say are rightfully theirs, while environmentalists have also raised concerns that wind farms installed on compacted sand dunes on the northern coast could have damaged underground water reservoirs".
https://www.climatedepot.com/2023/09/19/brazils-big-cats-under-threat-from-wind-farms-jaguars-pumas-face-extinction-in-brazils-northeast-as-the-fast-growing-wind-power-industry-frightens-them-off-their-land/
Doomy, just found this. It is not just whales. In Brazil, jaguars and pumas are losing territory to wind farms. This is heart-breaking:
Quote: "Jaguars and pumas are facing extinction in the Caatinga, Brazil’s northeastern shrublands, as Europe and China pour investment into wind farms, puncturing the land with vast turbines that are scaring the animals away from the region’s scant water sources."
"Particularly sensitive to changes to their habitat, the jaguars and pumas abandon their lairs as soon as construction work on the wind farms begins, said Claudia Bueno de Campos, a biologist who helped found the group Friends of the Jaguars and has tracked the region’s vanishing feline population. They then roam vast distances across the dusty plains in search of new streams and rivers."
"The weakest perish along the way. Others venture closer to villages, where locals have started laying traps to protect their small herds of goats and sheep, often their only form of survival in this impoverished region."
https://www.climatedepot.com/2023/09/19/brazils-big-cats-under-threat-from-wind-farms-jaguars-pumas-face-extinction-in-brazils-northeast-as-the-fast-growing-wind-power-industry-frightens-them-off-their-land/
loving these pieces!
Almost a thousand likes on this piece. Crazy. Wish we knew in advance which ones would take off like this! 😂😂😂