Fantasy Demolished - U.S. Climate Goals Threatened by "Green" Power demands

[JBG]

Gee, what a surprise. This Fourth Grade fantasy of free and clean energy from the wind and sun is ending as surely as Puff's dreams in Puff the Magic Dragon. Or, "where have all the flowers gone. An article, in all places, the New York Times, A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals (link) describes this process. Excerpt:

Over the past year, electric utilities have nearly doubled their forecasts of how much additional power they’ll need by 2028 as they confront an unexpected explosion in the number of data centers, an abrupt resurgence in manufacturing driven by new federal laws, and millions of electric vehicles being plugged in.
Many power companies were already struggling to keep the lights on, especially during extreme weather, and say the strain on grids will only increase.*************
“The numbers we’re seeing are pretty crazy,” said Daniel Brooks, vice president of integrated grid and energy systems at the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit organization.
In an ironic twist, the swelling appetite for more electricity, driven not only by electric cars but also by battery and solar factories and other aspects of the clean-energy transition, could also jeopardize the country’s plans to fight climate change. ***************

Burning more gas and coal runs counter to President Biden’s pledge to halve the nation’s planet-warming greenhouse gases and to generate all of America’s electricity from pollution-free sources such as wind, solar and nuclear by 2035.
“I can’t recall the last time I was so alarmed about the country’s energy trajectory,” said Tyler H. Norris, a former solar developer and expert in power systems who is now pursuing a doctorate at Duke University. If a wave of new gas-fired plants gets approved by state regulators, he said, “it is game over for the Biden administration’s 2035 decarbonization goal.”
Some utilities say they need additional fossil fuel capacity because cleaner alternatives like wind or solar power aren’t growing fast enough and can be bogged down by delayed permits and snarled supply chains.

See also free article, "The Planet Needs Solar Power. Can We Build It Without Harming Nature? (link in headline).

One can only suspect that the goal or result of this "green" frenzy will be to materially reduce living standards. Why don't they just be straightforward about this?

 

[White 6]

Moved to Environment Forum

 

[1srelluc]

The leftists won't be happy till we are all running around with LifeStraws dangling around our necks and drinking from mud puddles.

 

[Foxfyre]

I didn't know if that was acceptable. Another board I'm on only allows "green" posts on the equivalent form, on pain of infraction or suspension.

Not the case here. But given how unscientific the 'woke' AGW religonists can be, and how oblivious they are to the cause and effect, cost and consequences of implementing the 'woke' philosophy on a world nowhere near ready for it, it does beg the question whether this belongs in environment or politics.

 

[Manonthestreet]

We need to ban data centers....biggest power users on the planet

 

[sparky]

Anyone than can do the math can see it's not going to happen quickly, and if it does happen , won't help the environment

~S~

 

[ding]

Anyone than can do the math can see it's not going to happen quickly, and if it does happen , won't help the environment

~S~

The math is actually quite simple and reveals the emperor is naked.