Generating Electricity in the 21st Century
Few of us can imagine living without electricity.
Look at us when we lose electricity temporarily – e.g., as the result of a storm. We’re close to helpless.
Electricity is fundamental to our history of extensive economic development, sustenance and culture.
Government policies in recent years have put the current and future generation of uninterrupted and the required growth of electrical generation at great risk. Spurred by the warnings of global warming attributed to the burning of fossil fuels, regulations have been geared to replacing the fuel for electricity generation to renewable sources. The focus of those renewables has been on solar and wind.
Like any alternative to fueling the electricity needed in this country now, and in the future, there are downsides to any source. For solar, in addition to the unreliability of the sun shining, the amount of land required is mind blowing. For wind, in addition to the wind blowing, the size of the turbine generator and the noise they make creates resistance from most people living around them.
Further, the equipment required for both solar and wind is not only expensive, but dependent on other countries for the currently required minerals and metals. Add the problems of safely disposing of worn-out equipment just broadens their shortcomings.
Despite the attractiveness of electricity generated by our sun and winds, there isn’t any reasonable person I know that’s willing to give up economic health for solar and wind generated electricity. The zero carbon emissions church goers who want their religion to be totally adopted by 2050 don’t talk about the consequences of their objective, namely, at best, economic recession amid rolling blackouts.
Look, in 2023, total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation was about 4.18 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh). (Just for perspective, the average U.S. household consumes about 10,500 kWh of electricity per year.)
Wind generated electricity accounted for 426B kWh or 10%, while solar provided 165B kWh or about 4% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity in 2023. Throw in hydroelectric and geothermal – the total for renewables is about 21%.
Nuclear power currently represents 775B kWh, or about 19%. Natural gas generates 43% while coal is still generating 16% of the electricity used in the United States.
Demand for electricity is projected to increase 57% by 2050. That projection doesn’t consider an all-electric vehicle market. If all transportation were electric right now, we would need at least 50% more electricity than we have available currently.
Increased use of renewables will contribute to the increase needed, but not replace the fossil fuels which will continue to be the foundation of our economy. Even coal, the main target for transition, is projected to be up by 18%. Natural gas will be up 69%. Indeed, all energy sources will be needed to generate economic growth, with the mix reflecting practical matters of reliability, affordability, and security more than fear of climate change.
ICF, a global consulting and technology services provider to all our major utilities and affected government agencies, warns that current infrastructure and the grid will be hard-pressed to meet the expected increased demand. That demand will be driven by building and transportation electrification, manufacturing of batteries and fuel cells, data centers, and artificial intelligence.
Does anyone still think solar and wind are somehow the mainstays against Armageddon and are the epitome of civilization? That ‘green’ energy will save the earth? We just do it, right? No, only in your dreams.
Some brief discussion on where this global warming fiasco came from.
In 1992 the United Nations created the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It wanted the authority to run the global economy to “save the planet” and “equitably” share the benefits of “sustainable” development. The US has been a willing participant many times since then.
At last year’s UN conference there were commitments to triple renewables capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030 and to make progress on adapting to any climate change that occurs. It also committed to curtail energy use and to stop detrimental human activities supposedly driving global warming/climate change.
This year’s conference in Azerbaijan ended with a rude awakening, led by China, India, Nigeria, and Brazil. It became clear to all attendees that the UN is still a member organization, with the world’s leading national governments making the real decisions as to the policies adopted and that they will focus on the best interests of their citizens. I understand UN bureaucrats, globalists and Al Gore cried big tears in losing ground to run the world. Grief counselors were in demand.
Those counselors should stick around for when the new administration in the US takes the helm.
We all would like to have green energy for everything.
But the realists of the world know the planet is a long way from that happening, so let’s stop wishing for what can’t happen in the short term.
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Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/11/climate_changes_nothing_in_the_real_world.html
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us.php
https://www.icf.com/news/2024/09/icf-report-projects-surge-in-us-electricity-demand-by-2028
SPIDER Bites
This week’s trivia question is: Which NFL quarterback has thrown the most touchdowns? The answer to last week’s question re: the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird:” Harper Lee. Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist whose 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and became a classic of modern American literature. The novel deals with attitudes, and the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children.
As we begin a new year, my primary resolution is to be grateful for all the things I’ve had the opportunity to experience and learn, and my great luck to have a wonderful spouse, amazing children and grandchildren, and extraordinary friends.
NY Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill which imposes a hefty $75 billion fine on oil, gas, and coal companies over the next 25 years. The goal is to hold these companies responsible for the climate damage they’ve caused, shifting the financial burden from taxpayers to the companies most to blame. Expect pushbacks from the companies asking for legal proof of damage caused by burning fossil fuels, in turn global warming, and the specific damage to be repaired. It could be interesting.
In that vein, to meet the zero-carbon emissions target by 2050, some British cities are turning off their streetlights from late night the early morning. You can walk those streets in the dark and carry a lantern. It’s part of the new “modern” – and you’re expected to love it while using your bicycle or skateboard to get to and from work.
Barcodes are set to disappear in favor of modern QR codes. Whereas a barcode is a machine-readable optical image that contains information specific to the labeled item, the QR code also contains data for a product, but adds product tracking, time tracking, document management, web-tracking, general marketing and a wide range of other applications. It’s been used in commercial advertising for years. QR codes are also already used on cell phones to display text and open webpages.
A citizen, yet an obviously ISIS inspired terrorist, created havoc and horror in the New Orleans French quarter New Year’s Eve killing 14 people and injuring 35. An ISIS flag was found in his pickup truck after police shot him dead. Also found were explosives.
A Brightline train hit a firetruck on the tracks in Del Ray Beach last w/e, injuring 3 firefighters and 15 train passengers. With the gates down and lights flashing, why would a firetruck, of all vehicles, try to cross the tracks?
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates again in December. But the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury was 4.57% as of December 31, 2024, up about 1% from the September low of 3.6%. It’s the increased risk, folks. At the same time, Treasury has been issuing a greater than normal percentage of short-term bonds to pay lower interest rates on more of the debt, but that’s a dangerous move because it can backfire by raising short-term rates – even to the point of higher yields on short-term over lang-term bonds. That’s financial chaos. Where’s the Milton Friedman clone when we need him/her to educate our Treasury Secretary and officials?
The 39th President, Jimmy Carter died last week at 100 years of age. He was likely a good nuclear submarine technician.
