Summed in in one graph that says it all.
Roger Andrews writes:
If decarbonization is to be achieved by expanding renewables the expansion will have to come in wind, solar and biomass. So let’s take hydro out and see how far growth in wind, solar and biomass has carried us along the decarbonization path so far:
Clearly they still have a long way to go.
Source: http://euanmearns.com/renewable-energy-growth-in-perspective/
Looks like the start of a hockey stick.
Or not.
Cut the world’s energy consumption by half, and the SWBO portion will jump dramatically. Then cut it some more, and SWBO becomes significant.
See, we can go to renewable energy right now!
Windmills will NEVER “GET THERE.”
See: “Electricity Costs: the Folly of Windpower,” Ruth Lea, Civitas (2012):
http://www.civitas.org.uk/economy/electricitycosts2012.pdf
And here’s Ozzie Zehner to tell you why SOLAR, in particular, WILL NEVER MAKE IT.
If we all become cave men (uhm cave people to be PC in the new world order), we will have achieved the ultimate goal of some who self loath.
@Gamecock,
Your idea intrigues me.
It’s a well known maxim that you tax what you want less of and subsidize what you want more of.
I propose we implement your idea by creating a tax on energy, and subsidize SWBO.
Oh, wait…
They have centuries to go. What happens when they run out of windy places, and wide open spaces?
philjourdan says:
July 18, 2014 at 10:40 am
They have centuries to go. What happens when they run out of windy places, and wide open spaces?
bearskins
@Mario Lento – then the polar bears will REALLY be endangered!
One day we will realize that we need to build more nuclear power facilities and hydroelectric dams, but for now we continue to waste trillions of USD on wind and solar.
Here in “green” Ontario, Canada one can see in real-time the contribution of wind, solar, etc to the province’s grid at the Independent Electricity System Operator web site http://www.ieso.ca/
According to the web site, as of this moment (July 17, 2014, 1:00PM EDT), a glorious sunny day across the province, Ontario’s current demand is 16,715 Megawatts (MW). Wind is currently providing 30 MW or roughly 0.002% of demand. Solar and biomass are so low it’s lumped into the “Other” category.
Fail!
From their perspective though, it can only go up.
The top graph is very deceptive. It starts in 1965. That is much too late.
It should really start in 1665. THEN wind, water, and biomass were nearly 100% of world energy consumption. By the way, where is hydro power on that chart?
It was in the 1700’s that humans learned how to replace charcoal with mined coal and wind and biomass were began to take a backseat to fossil and nuclear power.
To be fair though: It’s not like they’ve been working on it for several decades or that renewables are very expensive.
Plus, if you like the taste of birds of prey, just pop up a wind mill and wait!
All fossil fuels are good for is base load power. (No votes or awards in that)
Yeah well that graph only goes through 2013, so your cherry picking doesn’t prove anything!
/sarc
Grid-scale storage is the key enabling technology. If that clicks into place, then that graph WILL end up looking like a hockey stick.
@Stephen Fisher Rasey:
If you want to live like it’s 1650 then by all means wind, biomass, and hydro power are all you need. Best of luck to you.
Hydroelectric was left off because its development is not being pushed for by the green zombies, they are actually opposed to it — for some good reasons — despite it being one of the best ways to generate electricity.
Awww….Geeez…c’mon folks!…this isn’t about saving money, or about saving the planet, or about any of that crap. It’s all about MOVING money. Doesn’t matter what banner the politicians find to do that under. If you take CO2 away, they’ll have to dig through all the drivel to come up with some other banner that allows them to MOVE MONEY.
If you can’t MAKE money, MOVE money, which means politics. Climate Change is nothing but a banner for them, with a great marketing message provided by the great many folks who all benefit from supporting the “cause”.
We’re trying to treat a cold with VaporRub. It’s the pols who are the problem, and if that was all undeniably proven in the next 24hrs, the pols would STILL be the problem, because they’d just find another way to MOVE MONEY.
It’s what they do.
Jim
It’s worse than we thought.
@ur momisugly Mario Lento –
I think they actually want us to die, not to live like cavemen.
@ur momisugly PaulH –
Be fair to them… their motto is “Power to Ontario. On Demand.”
There’s really no good way to fit wind and solar into that model.
Actually, terrestrial wind is the cheapest power, at the plant. It’s even cheaper than hydro. Really, the issue is dispatchability, and that’s entirely a matter of storage.
But the political brownie points chart is still impressive. It’s enough to bully science types and make up things at the podium or read scripts from the advocacy groups.
If any of you campaigned against the current administration and subsequently got a Federal contract to provide or research wind or solar power please post comments below.
The big problem in cities in 1905 was horse poop. No solution was in sight. A few years later…solved. You never know what the future holds. Perhaps in 10 years, renewables will be 99% due to a major innovation
It’s interesting that the more techie we become, the more power is consumed. Imagine current computing being processed through tube technology. Based on that thought, we use very little power to compute our daily activity.
Janice Moore says:
July 18, 2014 at 10:37 am
Hey Sweet Pea!
Thanks for the vids/links!
Hope all is well with you.
Any ‘bites’ from the resume’ readers?
Mac