bripat9643
Diamond Member
- Apr 1, 2011
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The environmental wackos have been claiming that so-called "green energy" is cheaper, but the rest of us know better. Now here's the proof.
A prominent environmental activist took the unusual road of not only blaming rising electricity costs squarely on renewable sources, but also for deriding the mainstream media for ignoring the connection.
Michael Shellenberger, the president and founder of Environmental Progress, explained in a Forbes blog post Monday how the unreliability of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, is the main reason why electricity bills around the world have been getting higher.
Despite renewable energy technology slowly becoming more affordable, Shellenberger notes, electricity costs are still rising because of the unpredictable nature of wind and solar. Both sources produce excess energy when consumers don’t need them, and they don’t produce enough when needed the most.
For example, solar panels produce large amounts of energy throughout the day, but are unable to generate power at night when residents are more dependent on electricity to keep the lights on. Wind energy is notably unpredictable given how wind fluctuates substantially from day-to-day. The end result becoming other, more reliable sources of energy are relied upon to churn out power at a moment’s notice when renewables flop. Better yet, regions that produce too much wind and solar power have to pay — not sell — others to take the power off their hands, further spiking costs.
Michael Shellenberger, the president and founder of Environmental Progress, explained in a Forbes blog post Monday how the unreliability of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, is the main reason why electricity bills around the world have been getting higher.
Despite renewable energy technology slowly becoming more affordable, Shellenberger notes, electricity costs are still rising because of the unpredictable nature of wind and solar. Both sources produce excess energy when consumers don’t need them, and they don’t produce enough when needed the most.
For example, solar panels produce large amounts of energy throughout the day, but are unable to generate power at night when residents are more dependent on electricity to keep the lights on. Wind energy is notably unpredictable given how wind fluctuates substantially from day-to-day. The end result becoming other, more reliable sources of energy are relied upon to churn out power at a moment’s notice when renewables flop. Better yet, regions that produce too much wind and solar power have to pay — not sell — others to take the power off their hands, further spiking costs.