We hear a lot of talk about “renewable energy” and the need for America to end it’s “addiction” to fossil fuels. Indeed, Democrat candidates for president are stumbling over one another to come up with the most regressive plan. Much of the public has embraced this delusional rhetoric, largely because they have accepted the illusion presented by advocates of renewable energy.
For example, in April the American Wind Power Association announced that the generation capacity from wind increased by 8 percent to 96,433 megawatts in 2018. But what they don’t tell us is how much of that capacity actually generated electricity.
As any child knows, the wind does not always blow. And when the wind isn’t blowing, windmills are useless–they won’t generate electricity. The percentage of the capacity that is actually generated is known as the capacity factor.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind had a capacity factor of 37.4 percent in 2018. In other words, wind generated a little more than a third of its capacity. Solar was even worse with a capacity factor of 26.1 percent. The advocates of renewable energy conveniently ignore these facts. (As a point of reference, nuclear had a capacity factor of 92.6 percent.)
The fact is, wind and solar are not reliable. And a modern society needs a reliable and abundant source of energy. To believe that we can eliminate fossil fuels and retain our standard of living is worse than delusional. But the proponents of renewable energy aren’t dissuaded by the facts. They continue to present the illusion that somehow we can have “clean” energy that is reliable and abundant. And they are willing to use the coercive power of government to force their agenda down our throats.
The push for renewable energy is an electric train wreck of epic proportions. The time to avert that disaster is now. And the way to do it is by presenting The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels